Ice Margins of the 19th and 20th Centuries in the Venedigergruppe, Hohe Tauern, Austria

Abstract

The main west - southwest / east - northeast backbone of the eastern Alps runs through the center of the Venedigergruppe. Nine valleys head in interlocking troughs and radiate from the central arete and horn divide. A pattern of deglacierization is reconstructed from early descriptions of the glaciers and their forelands, maps, surveys, climbing records, and field investigation.

There has been major, overall wastage of the ice through thinning and retreat at the termini, along the margins, and in the firn areas of the glaciers since the mid-19th century. While the history of the glacier changes fits a general, known sequence for the European Alps, the details of ice loss have varied greatly; local factors of aspect and topography have been important in the long-term, behavioral patterns of the glaciers. Despite a trend toward weather that would seem to have been more advantageous to a positive glacier mass balance in recent years, decay and wastage have continued.