Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
that glaciers did not form on this mountain during the Pleistocene (it is quite likely
that glaciers did indeed form), only that the evidence, on what is an active volcano,
has not been preserved.
3.3 Modern and recent glaciers in the
Mediterranean mountains
Small glaciers, such as those in the Mediterranean mountains, respond rapidly to
climate change and their behaviour provides important insight into climatic changes
in this important climatic region (Hughes and Woodward, 2009; Hughes, 2011). The
modern glaciers of this region are small and many have disappeared in the twentieth
century. However, some do still survive and these are described below.
3.3.1 Iberia (Spain/France)
A glacier survived in the Sierra Nevada of southern Spain in the Corral Veleta cirque
(37
◦
N, 3
◦
E) until the 1920s (see Figure 3.1). This was the southernmost glacier in
Europe at that time. In the Picos de Europa, in northern Spain, four ice patches still
survive (see Figure 3.1). However, the only 'true' remaining glaciers in Iberia are
found in the Pyrenees (see Figure 3.1). Here, more than 20 glaciers covered a total
area of 495 ha at the beginning of the twenty-first century (Gonzalez Trueba
et al.
,
2008). The Maladeta Massif, which includes the highest peak in the Pyrenees -
Pico de Aneto (3404 m asl) supports some of the largest glaciers. However, in the
Maladeta Massif, glaciers retreated dramatically through the twentieth century and
glaciers shrunk by 530 ha between 1894 and 2001 (Gonzalez Trueba
et al.
, 2008).
3.3.2 Maritime Alps (France/Italy)
According to Federici and Pappalardo (1995) 15 small glaciers were present in the
Maritime Alps on the border of France and Italy (see Figure 3.1). However, the
modern state of these glaciers is unclear. These glaciers are the most southerly in
the European Alps and some are situated less than 50 km from the Mediterranean
coast. Most of the glaciers are found in the Argentera Massif, which contains the
highest peaks of the Alpes Maritimes, including Cime de Argentera (3297 m asl). At
the turn of the century, the ELA of the six largest Argentera glaciers was c. 2800 m
asl (Fisinger and Ribolini, 2001). As with many other mountain glaciers of the
Mediterranean, all of the Maritime Alps glaciers have retreated during the last cen-
tury since the Little Ice Age. ELAs during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries
were 100-150 m lower than at the turn of the twenty-first century (Federici and
Pappalardo, 1995; Pappalardo, 1999).
