Geophysical signature of a World War I tunnel-like anomaly in the Forni Glacier (Punta Linke, Italian Alps)
| Autor: | Carlo Baroni, Massimo Giorgi, Maria Cristina Salvatore, Aldino Bondesan, Stefano Picotti, Roberto Francese, Franco Nicolis, José M. Carcione |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
Glaciers monitoring
Glaciers retreat GPR World War I Italian Alps numerical modeling geography geography.geographical_feature_category Glaciers retreat GPR Global warming Numerical modeling Basal sliding Glacier Glaciers monitoring Italian Alps Glacier decay military geosciences numerical modeling seismic white war World War I First world war Paleontology Ground-penetrating radar Glacial period Geology Earth-Surface Processes |
| Popis: | Global warming and the associated glacier retreat recently revealed the entrance to an ice–rock tunnel, at an altitude of ~3600 m a.s.l., in the uppermost portion of the Forni Glacier in the Central Italian Alps. The tunnel served as an entrance to an Austro-Hungarian cableway station excavated in the rocks during the Great War just behind the frontline. A comprehensive geophysical survey, based on seismic and ground-penetrating radar profiling, was then undertaken to map other possible World War I (WWI) remains still embedded in the ice. The ice–rock interface was reconstructed over the entire saddle and in the uppermost portion of the glacier. A prominent linear reflector was surprisingly similar to the common response of buried pipes. The reflector orientation, almost longitudinal to the slope, does not seem to be compatible with a glacial conduit or with other natural features. Numerical simulations of a series of possible targets constrained interpretation to a partly water-filled rounded shape cavity. The presence of a preserved WWI tunnel connecting Mount Vioz and Punta Linke could be considered a realistic hypothesis. The Forni glacier could be still considered polythermal and comprised of cold ice without basal sliding in its top portion. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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