Project description:

Former mountain glaciers are important analogues for understanding contemporary ice masses and their future interactions with climate. Formerly glaciated mountain landscapes are also important archives for the study of climate change during the Quaternary. The European Alps are one of the regions where geological markers of past glaciations are most abundant and well-studied. The same is, however, not true for the south-eastern corner of the Alps and neighbouring northern Dinarides, despite the fact that here the glacial history has been studied since the late nineteenth century. Several discrepancies exist among palaeoglaciological maps generated by different authors. There are also large disagreements between these empirical reconstructions and numerically modelled simulations, which predict excessive ice cover over the entire south-eastern Alps. In this project, we will improve our understanding of past climate-glacier dynamics at the Alps-Dinarides junction by combining field and model-based approaches. In particular, we will explore the spatio-temporal patterns of glacier fluctuations during the Last Glacial Cycle, the influence of different bed geology on subglacial conditions and glacier dynamics, and the past climate conditions driving the growth and recession of glaciers. Overall, this project will deliver new findings about how Pleistocene and Holocene glaciers shaped the landscape and how they reacted to past climate variability.

Work packages:

• WP1: Empirical reconstruction of glaciers
• WP2: Numerical simulations of glaciers
• WP3: Past climate change
• WP4: Dissemination and public outreach

Participating organisations:

• Geological Survey of Slovenia (leading partner)
• Department of Geography, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana
• Jozef Stefan Institute


• Italian National Research Council
  dr. Giovanni Monegato, dr. Renato R. Colucci
• Istanbul Technical University
  Prof. Attila Çiner, Prof. Mehmet Akif Sarıkaya, Prof. Cengiz Yıldırım
• Croatian Geological Survey
  dr. Lara Wacha

Publications:

1.01 Original scientific article

• JAMŠEK RUPNIK, Petra, ŽEBRE, Manja, JEŽ, Jernej, ZAJC, Marjana, PREUSSER, Frank, MONEGATO, Giovanni. Deciphering the deformation mechanism in Quaternary deposits along the Idrija Fault in the formerly glaciated Soča Valley, southeast European Alps. Engineering geology. 2022, vol. 297, 25 str. ISSN 0013-7952. DOI: 10.1016/j.enggeo.2021.106515. [COBISS.SI-ID 93313539]


• ŽEBRE, Manja, SARIKAYA, Mehmet Akif, STEPIŠNIK, Uroš, COLUCCI, Renato R., YILDIRIM, Cengiz, ÇINER, Attila, CANDAŞ, Adem, VLAHOVIĆ, Igor, TOMLJENOVIĆ, Bruno, MATOŠ, Bojan, WILCKEN, Klaus M. An early glacial maximum during the last glacial cycle on the northern Velebit Mt. (Croatia). Geomorphology : an international journal of pure and applied geomorphology, ISSN 0169-555X. 2021, vol. 392, str. 1-22, doi: 10.1016/j.geomorph.2021.107918. [COBISS.SI-ID 76449027]


• JAMŠEK RUPNIK, Petra, ŽEBRE, Manja, MONEGATO, Giovanni. Late Quaternary evolution of the sedimentary environment in Modrejce near Most na Soči (Soča Valley, Julian Alps) = Poznokvartarni razvoj sedimentacijskega okolja v Modrejcah pri Mostu na Soči (Posočje, Julijske Alpe). Geologija, ISSN 0016-7789. [Tiskana izd.], 2020, vol. 63, no. 2, str. 295-309, ilustr., doi: 10.5474/geologija.2020.022. [COBISS.SI-ID 41477891]

1.08 Published scientific conference contribution

• BAVEC, Aljaž, DEPOLLI, Matjaž. Alpine glacier simulation with linear climate models. V: VRČEK, Neven (ur.). 2022 45th Jubilee International Convention on Information, Communication and Electronic Technology (MIPRO) : May 23-27, 2022, Opatija, Croatia : proceedings. Rijeka: Croatian Society for Information, Communication and Electronic Technology - MIPRO, cop. 2022. Str. 245-250, ilustr. ISBN 978-953-233-103-5. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=9803334, DOI: 10.23919/MIPRO55190.2022.9803326. [COBISS.SI-ID 114145539]

1.12 Published scientific conference contribution abstract

• GOSTINČAR, Petra, ŽEBRE, Manja, JAMŠEK RUPNIK, Petra, MENCIN GALE, Eva, JEŽ, Jernej, STEPIŠNIK, Uroš, ATANACKOV, Jure, BAVEC, Miloš. Towards a comprehensive overview of glaciation at the Alps-Dinarides junction: compilation of a GIS database and creation of a web map viewer. V: Geomorphology and global change : 10th IAG International conference on geomorphology : Coimbra, 12-16 September 2022. [S. l.: s. n.], 2022. DOI: 10.5194/icg2022-227. [COBISS.SI-ID 130567171]


• JAMŠEK RUPNIK, Petra, ŽEBRE, Manja, JEŽ, Jernej, ZAJC, Marjana, PREUSSER, Frank, MONEGATO, Giovanni. Poznokvartarni sedimentarni razvoj in paleopotresni zapisi v Modrejcah pri Mostu na Soči (Julijske Alpe). V: ANDRIČ, Maja (ur.), CAF, Nina (ur.). Program, povzetki : znanstveno srečanje Dolgoročne spremembe okolja 2021. Ljubljana: Inštitut za arheologijo ZRC SAZU. 2021, str. 5. https://iza2.zrc-sazu.si/sites/default/files/dso_2021_povzetki.pdf. [COBISS.SI-ID 66117123]


• JAMŠEK RUPNIK, Petra, ŽEBRE, Manja, JEŽ, Jernej, ZAJC, Marjana, PREUSSER, Frank, MONEGATO, Giovanni. Late Quaternary sedimentary evolution and deformations of deposits near Most na Soči (Julian Alps). V: JAMŠEK RUPNIK, Petra (ur.), NOVAK, Ana (ur.). 6th Regional Scientific Meeting on Quaternary Geology : Seas, Lakes and Rivers : 27-29 September 2021, Ljubljana, Slovenia : book of abstracts. Online ed. Ljubljana: Geološki zavod Slovenije. 2021, str. 56-57. [COBISS.SI-ID 88700419]


• ŽEBRE, Manja, SARIKAYA, Mehmet Akif, STEPIŠNIK, Uroš, ÇINER, Attila, YILDIRIM, Cengiz. New 36Cl glacial chronology of the northern Dinaric Mountains (Slovenia). V: JAMŠEK RUPNIK, Petra (ur.), NOVAK, Ana (ur.). 6th Regional Scientific Meeting on Quaternary Geology : Seas, Lakes and Rivers : 27-29 September 2021, Ljubljana, Slovenia : book of abstracts. Online ed. Ljubljana: Geološki zavod Slovenije. 2021, str. 99-100. [COBISS.SI-ID 88700931]