Tag Archives: Ortles Project

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3 November Interview with Paolo Gabrielli

A few days ago the “Science Day” took place in Bolzano/Bozen at EURAC. The Science Day is a type of fair where projects, proposals and ideas for teaching science in the Autonomous Province of Bolzano/Bozen were presented. The ORTLER project was presented as well and we were able to see close up how much has been happening around this project so far. We will soon publish new posts including pictures and reports about the work currently going on in all participating schools.

Today we have the honour of publishing an interview with Dr. Paolo Gabrielli, a researcher from the Trentino region in Italy, who is also the scientific coordinator of the project. He was able to answer to some of our questions shortly before returning to work at the Byrd Polar Centre of the Ohio State University of Columbus (USA).

Paolo, you are shortly due to go back to the USA. Four ice cores, three of them reaching down to the rock underneath the glacier, were extracted. Were you expecting such a result a few months ago?

To tell you the truth, yes, I was expecting this, although the extraction of four ice cores was our most ambitious goal. We had prepared everything in such a way that would allow this result. I would have considered extracting one such ice core, reaching down to the rock, a success. This was not a certainty at the outset… especially considering the technical difficulties we had during the operations.

What are the unique features of this project?

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27th September – First match point

Almost there.

The good climatic conditions of the last few days meant the researchers were able to accelerate the ice core drilling operations. The top of the ice core drilling system is currently located at a depth of 70 metres below the surface of the glacier. According to georadar measurements made in recent years (2008, 2009, 2010), the glacier’s depth was estimated at not more than 75 metres.

This is the “first match point” of our little adventure, as Paolo Gabrielli, team coordinator, told us, slightly moved, yesterday.

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20th of September – Presentation ! | 20 Settembre – Presentazione ufficiale | 20. September – Offizielle Vorstellung

On 20 September 2011, the Ortler project was officially presented at two separate events.

The project was firstly presented during a press conference, chaired by Luis Durwalder, President of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano/Bozen.

A short scientific conference was also held at EURAC, where the scientific and logistical representatives of the research project presented the work they will be carrying out over the coming days, when they will extract an ice core from the summit glacier of the Ortler. The ice core will be examined in order to obtain paleoclimatic information. (Picture gallery of the EURAC presentation)

 

22nd of September – The Campus | 22 Settembre – Campus di glaciologia | 22. September – Das Glaziologiecamp

Twenty high school students from the Autonomous Province of Bolzano/Bozen (ten Italian and ten German-speaking) together with their accompanying teachers have started the Glaciology camp at the Hotel Franzenshöhe, which is located on the way to the Stelvio pass  (See the Glaciology camp Programme). In the coming five days they will meet experts, researchers, glaciologists and guides from the Stelvio National Park. The main goal will be to better understand the research aspects of the Ortler project and the surrounding environment.

Yesterday the researchers implemented various preparatory activities while waiting to be transported by helicopter to the glacier in the coming days. There, the researchers will set up a remote camp where they will stay for the following 30 days in order to work on the delicate task of extracting an ice core from the glacier. Even during this delicate phase, the entire research team has proven to be very helpful, explaining to the students every single aspect of their work and presenting some similar research that took them, during their careers, to several glaciers in various parts of the globe, from Antarctica to New Guinea. See the picture gallery of the first day of the camp.
Tomorrow (23 September), the research team and all the material should be taken to the glacier at 3,950 meters by helicopter.

Blog Ortler | Blog Ortles | Ortler – Blog

We are publishing our first post about the Ortler project in our blog today. It won’t be an ordinary blog, but a kind of photographic description explaining the project’s evolution and in particular the extraction of the ice core from the summit glacier of the Ortler.

We would like to dedicate this first post to Roberto Filippi. Roberto, you will always remain among us!