In high alpine regions rock glaciers may be important shallow porous aquifers with a high storage capacity for groundwater. Moreover, the runoff of these landforms contributes to streamflow and especially baseflow in further downstream river systems.
The project emphasised on the impact of rock glaciers on downstream river systems. Therefore, in several test sites distributed over the Austrian Alps, the discharge of rock glacier springs and the downstream river systems were monitored. The impact of the rock glacier catchment share to the discharge of the downstream rivers was investigated for the present and the near future. For the rock glacier catchments in particular, we identified and separated discharge components related to rainfall, snow melt, permafrost ice melt or longer stored groundwater of rock glaciers, as the runoff dynamics will likely change in the future due to climate change.
The results of Rg-AlpCatch enabled to quantify the influence of rock glacier catchments on the water cycle in present and future times, as their hydro(geo)logical relevance might change over time.
Research cooperations: Karl Krainer (University of Innsbruck), Heike Brielmann (Umweltbundesamt), Michael Avian (Geosphere Austria), Albrecht Leis (JR-AquaConSol), Elisabeth Fischer (BOKU), Markus Ribis (GeoZT GmbH)
Team
| +43 316 380 - 8726 Institut für Erdwissenschaften |
| +43 316 380 - 8725 Institut für Erdwissenschaften |
| +43 316 380 - 8726 Institut für Erdwissenschaften |
| +43 316 380 - 8726 Institut für Erdwissenschaften |
Funding
