The Adamello glacier still retains the ‘memory’ of the First World War and the nuclear tests of 1963: this is demonstrated by the first analyzes conducted on the 224-metre ice core extracted in 2021 as part of the ClimADA project, with the aim of reconstruct the climatic evolution of the last centuries and the human impact on high altitude habitats. The project, funded by the Cariplo Foundation, is the result of a partnership coordinated by the Lombardy Foundation for the Environment and made up of the Valle Camonica Mountain Community, the University of Milan-Bicocca, the Milan Polytechnic and the University of Brescia.
The analysis activities carried out at the EuroCold Lab of the Bicocca University have led to the identification of a dark level about 10 centimeters thick at a depth of about 66 metres, which could represent part of the paleo-environmental and historical signal of the First World War, fought in Italy between 1915 and 1918. Given the extreme importance of the event, a centimeter resolution study of the interval is being carried out. In addition to a considerable amount of dust, the ice contains remains of pollen from plants that grew downstream of the glacier, coals, spores of fungi and algae that lived on the glacier. The study is providing important information on the temporal evolution of the period and on the possible presence of humans and animals on the glacier. The materials that made up the projectiles and weapons that were used by the two counterparts are also being considered, in an attempt to recognize their presence on site.
Evidence of the 1963 nuclear tests was found at about 23 meters deep in the core, recognizable by a tritium peak. The depth of this event is much lower than where it was found in a previous core extracted in 2016 (around 30 meters). This is further evidence of the melting of the glacier in recent years. The Chernobyl event, on the other hand, is still being analyzed and peaks of cesium are being sought in the most superficial portion of the core. Possible surface melting events may have altered the integrity of the signal.
Some levels of tephra (volcanic glass produced during eruptions) have been identified inside the core, which will allow the ice to be dated at different depths. Some dark levels inside the core contain mineral dust from the Sahara which will allow a reconstruction of the frequency and variations of atmospheric circulation during the last centuries of the Earth’s climatic history. For this purpose, a marker mineral for dust transports from North Africa, kaolinite, was identified.
Source: Ansa
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