Does global warming favour the occurrence of extreme floods in European Alps? First evidences from a NW Alps proglacial lake sediment record

Autor: Charline Giguet-Covex, Emmanuel Malet, Dirk Enters, Françoise Allignol, Sidonie Révillon, Olivier Magand, Fabien Arnaud, Bruno Wilhelm, Amaya Legaz
Přispěvatelé: Environnements, Dynamiques et Territoires de la Montagne (EDYTEM), Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Geopolar, Institute of Geography, University of Bremen, University of Bremen, Laboratoire de glaciologie et géophysique de l'environnement (LGGE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry]), Ifremer - Pouzané, Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER), Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2012
Předmět:
Zdroj: Climatic Change
Climatic Change, Springer Verlag, 2012, p.563-581. ⟨10.1007/s10584-011-0376-2⟩
Climatic Change (0165-0009) (Springer), 2012-08, Vol. 113, N. 3-4, P. 563-581
Wilhelm, Bruno; Arnaud, F.; Enters, D.; Allignol, F.; Legaz, A.; Magand, O.; Revillon, S.; Giguet-Covex, C.; Malet, E. (2012). Does global warming favour the occurrence of extreme floods in European Alps? First evidences from a NW Alps proglacial lake sediment record. Climatic change, 113(3), pp. 563-581. Springer 10.1007/s10584-011-0376-2
ISSN: 0165-0009
1573-1480
DOI: 10.1007/s10584-011-0376-2⟩
Popis: International audience; Flood hazard is expected to increase in the context of global warming. However, long time-series of climate and gauge data at high-elevation are too sparse to assess reliably the rate of recurrence of such events in mountain areas. Here paleolimnological techniques were used to assess the evolution of frequency and magnitude of flash flood events in the North-western European Alps since the Little Ice Age (LIA). The aim was to document a possible effect of the post-19th century global warming on torrential floods frequency and magnitude. Altogether 56 flood deposits were detected from grain size and geochemical measurements performed on gravity cores taken in the proglacial Lake Blanc (2170 ma.s.l., Belledonne Massif, NW French Alps). The age model relies on radiometric dating (137Cs and 241Am), historic lead contamination and the correlation of major flood- and earthquaketriggered deposits, with recognized occurrences in historical written archives. The resulting flood calendar spans the last ca 270 years (AD 1740-AD 2007). The magnitude of flood events was inferred from the accumulated sediment mass per flood event and compared with reconstructed or homogenized datasets of precipitation, temperature and glacier variations. Whereas the decennial flood frequency seems to be independent of seasonal precipitation, a relationship with summer temperature fluctuations can be observed at decadal timescales. Most of the extreme flood events took place since the beginning of the 20th century with the strongest occurring in 2005. Our record thus suggests climate warming is favouring the occurrence of high magnitude torrential flood events in high-altitude catchments.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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