Permafrost-Glacier Interactions and its impact on alpine landscape evolution (PerGInt)

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Christof Kneisel
• Subject Area: Physical Geography
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 506183115

The glacial landscape legacy after the period of the Little Ice Age in the area of the European Alps comprises landforms indicative of former permafrost-glacier interactions which oftentimes lead to prominent or even spectacular landforms, nevertheless investigations on the relationship and interaction of both components of the cryosphere have been given little attention. Glacial and periglacial landforms reflect climatic, topographic and lithological conditions and are indicative for past or modern environmental conditions. Questions arise concerning the degree of subsurface heterogeneity and its impact on process dynamics. The main goal of this research proposal is the identification of interconnections between the properties of the surface and the subsurface and to decipher under which environmental conditions glaciotectonically deformed moraines could have formed and to what extent these landforms are currently subject to changes under the present climatic situation and possible future atmospheric warming trends. To reach this goal, the surface and subsurface parameters characterizing the alpine geosystem will be mapped based on in-situ (temperature data, 2D and 3D geophysical surveying), airborne (structure from motion photogrammetry), and satellite borne measurements (SAR interferometry). The suggestedgeophysical methods have the potential to provide spatial or even volumetric information on the subsurface internal structure and property variations. The remote and proximal sensing techniques enable to detect and monitor vertical and/or horizontal displacements with a high spatial and temporal resolution which can be linked to terrain parameters, subsurface characteristics and the thermal regime. Through the relation of the collected surface and subsurface data, possible interconnections of the different parameters can be analysed. The improved understanding of the interdependencies between the surface and subsurface parameters and the processual relationships from the integrative approach allows to derive more advanced conceptual models of the investigated landforms, which show the genetic relationship between landform, sediment characteristics and the influence of permafrost conditions. The expected new findings will form the basis to generate scenarios of alpine landscape evolution under changing environmental conditions

• DFG Programme: Research Grants