The Memory of the Alps Is Vanishing
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Climate Change Is Destroying Unique Archives of European History Along with Glacial Ice
Irretrievably lost: Unique evidence of European history is stored in the glaciers of the Alps – from traces of early mining and metalworking to the smoke from slash-and-burn agriculture. But these icy archives are disappearing, as researchers on the Weißseespitze in the Ötztal Alps have discovered: In 2019, they were still able to extract a ten-meter-long ice core there; by 2025, only 5.50 meters of glacial ice remained.
The ice accumulated by glaciers over millennia is an important climate and environmental archive. Suspended particles, gases, and isotopes are preserved in the ice layers, providing information about the conditions at the time they were trapped. Ice cores from the Alps have already revealed when the Alps first glaciated and that even the Romans' metal extraction polluted the air with lead and other harmful substances.
“Because of their proximity to human settlements, Alpine glaciers play a special role. They offer a unique opportunity to trace the transition from the pre-industrial to the industrial era,” explains lead author Azzurra Spagnesi from Ca’ Foscari University in Venice. At the same time, however, Alpine glaciers are particularly affected by climate change. To preserve this icy data, the first ice cores from the Alps have already been transported to Antarctica and stored there.
Ice cores from the Weißseespitze
However, there have been hardly any ice cores and ice analyses from the Eastern Alps until now, because the glaciers there are mostly located at lower altitudes. They were therefore considered less suitable for long-term studies. To close this gap, Spagnesi and her team climbed the summit of the nearly 3,500-meter-high Weißseespitze in the Ötztal Alps in 2019 and extracted a core sample just over ten meters long from the summit glacier.
Dating revealed that this ice core dates back approximately 6,000 years, thus preserving climate and environmental data dating back to the Neolithic period. To analyze this data, researchers examined the ice layers for 18 trace elements, soot, and various organic components.
Human Signatures Appear Relatively Late
The analyses revealed that, unlike in the Western Alps, traces of human-caused air pollution on the Weißseespitze are less pronounced and appear much later. Until about 1,000 years ago, the ice layers primarily show natural influences. "Some of the strongest peaks in metals coincide with major volcanic eruptions," reports Spagnesi. "Periods of increased drought are also reflected in higher levels of dust."
"From around the year 950, the first peaks in arsenic, lead, copper, and silver appear, which are related to medieval mining and metalworking in the Alpine region and adjacent areas," the researcher continues. Overall, anthropogenic inputs account for only about seven percent of all contaminants found in the ice layers.
Evidence of Fires and Drought
Between 900 and 1250, increased amounts of soot and organic matter were preserved in the glacial ice. This suggests that the climate of that time became significantly drier and there were more forest fires, as the team explains. "These increased fire signatures are likely due to a mixture of natural and human-induced causes," says Spagnesi. Around this time, people in the region expanded their arable land through slash-and-burn agriculture, and at the same time, the drought also led to more fires.
In the following period, from the 13th to the 16th centuries, particularly large amounts of dust and metal particles were blown onto the mountain glacier. The researchers attribute this to the Little Ice Age and the associated climate fluctuations. At that time, the climate in Europe became cooler and, in some places, wetter, but there were also extended periods of drought.
Five Meters of Ice Loss in Just Five Years
The ice of the Weißseespitze also demonstrates how endangered these archives of the past are: When the team returned to their drilling site from 2019 in 2025, the glacier, originally over ten meters thick, was only 5.50 meters thick. In just over five years, half of the ice has been lost. "This underscores the acute threat to this icy archive," the team writes. It is therefore all the more urgent to collect as much data as possible now.
“According to forecasts, the glaciers of the Ötztal Alps will disappear completely within the next few decades,” says Spagnesi. “When that happens, the physical and chemical information preserved within them will be gone forever. Preserving the glaciers is therefore more than just protecting the ice—it’s also about preserving the climate memory.” (Frontiers in Earth Science, 2026; doi: 10.3389/feart.2026.1680019)
Source: Frontiers
