Geology: Alpine summits may have been ice-free during life of Tyrolean Iceman
E-Mail Alpine summits at 3,000 to 4,000 m may have been ice free until about 5,900 years ago, just before the lifetime of the Tyrolean Iceman (Oetzi), when new glaciers started to form, according to a study published in Scientific Reports. The findings suggest that only the highest Alpine summits (4000 m and above) remained covered in ice for all of the current geological epoch, the Holocene, which began approximately 11,650 years ago. Understanding how past glacier dynamics related to changes in climate, may help assess the pace of future glacier loss in the Alps, and previous research d...
Source: eurekalert.org