Rapid Glacier Melting Destroys Valuable Climate Archive

Global warming's impact on the Corbassière glacier highlights challenges for the Ice Memory initiative.

Researchers have found that the Corbassière glacier at Grand Combin in the canton of Valais, previously a valuable climate archive, has been rendered unusable due to rapid melting caused by global warming.
Comparisons of ice cores drilled in 2018 and 2020 revealed that the glacier melting between these years was so strong that it washed away trace substances, distorting the signatures of the layered inclusions and destroying the climate archive.
The researchers concluded that the melting was not triggered by a singular event, but resulted from many warm years in the recent past, indicating a threshold has been crossed leading to a comparatively strong effect.
The Ice Memory initiative, which aims to obtain ice cores from 20 endangered glaciers around the world in 20 years, may face similar challenges with other glaciers. The cores are to be stored permanently in an ice cave at the Italian-French research station Concordia in Antarctica.
The researchers' attempts to drill deeper into the Grand Combin glacier were thwarted by thick, solid layers of ice that had formed as the water melted and froze again, leading to the abandonment of the expedition.