Ortles Project

Ortles Project

Ortles Project
  • Home
  • About
  • Research
    • Glaciology
    • Permafrost
    • Scientific reports
      • Peer-reviewed papers
      • Meetings and Conferences
      • Other
  • Education & Outreach
    • Why Ortles?
    • Materials and Resources
    • Glaciology Camp
    • ASK A RESEARCHER!
  • MEDIA
    • Photogalleries
    • Video
  • People
  • Press
  • Contact Us

29th September – One – nil !

  • Outreach
  • Research

One – nil!

This is the result of the match currently being played between researchers and nature on the “pitch” located on the Ortler glacier, at 3,850 metres.Yesterday the perforation system reached 74 metres depth and extracted an ice core from the glacial soil, the part that lies directly on the rock. This can clearly be proven by the fact that the lower glacier layer contains rock fragments. 

But it has not been easy.

During the perforation, some material from the upper layers, consisting of firn (compacted snow, which will become ice) and water that melted in the summer ran along the bore hole and froze further down. This created a cap, which blocked the hole. The perforation system therefore had to free up the hole every single time, while extracting the ice cores from the bottom to the surface. Pictures with details of the operation system are available here: picture gallery of 22 September.

While being a technically relevant obstacle, as can easily be understood, this is also excellent news. It means that the lower part of the glacier is very cold, which again brings hope that the climatic archive could still be undamaged.

The ice core extraction was interrupted for half a day in order to move the perforation system a few metres horizontally. There, a second point is currently being perforated, with the hope of extracting a second ice core.

The visit of the two high school students, Giulia and Philip, which is part of the education programme (“Researching at the Ortler summit”), will take place on Monday, 3 October 2011. From Saturday onwards, our editorial staff will be on the glacier as well, in order to observe the operations and to collect material and testimonies which will be published on this homepage in the coming weeks.

 

Archive Climate Drilling Glacier Ice core
September 29, 2011 admin

Post navigation

30 September – News and virtual tour → ← 27th September – First match point

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

  • Just in time… after 7000 years!
  • The Best School Year Start Ever: the Glaciology Camp
  • GLACIOLOGY CAMP 2016 PHOTOGALLERY
  • Ortles Day: Research meets School through the Atlantic Ocean
  • From USA to Europe: the first “Ortles Day”

Partners

logo_slideshow_osu
logo_slideshow_osu
EURAC_logo
EURAC_logo
logo_slideshow_bpcrc_flag
logo_slideshow_bpcrc_flag
muse
muse
bolzano
bolzano
logo_slideshow_UNIPV_DSTA
logo_slideshow_UNIPV_DSTA
logo_slideshow_ortles
logo_slideshow_ortles
logo_slideshow_lgge
logo_slideshow_lgge
National Science Foundation (USA)
National Science Foundation (USA)
logo_slideshow_tesaf
logo_slideshow_tesaf
logo_slideshow_UniInn
logo_slideshow_UniInn
logo_slideshow_unipd
logo_slideshow_unipd
UNIVE_LOGO
UNIVE_LOGO

Tag Cloud

Alps Archive Campus di Glaciologia Climate Climate Change Cryosphere Didattica Drilling Education Firn Glacier Glaciology Glaciology Camp High altitude Ice Ice core Medicine Mount Ortles Ortles Project Outreach Paleoclimatology Permafrost Pollens Progetto Ortles Research Snow Studenti Students Summer School Survey
Powered by WordPress | theme SG Double