The summer heatwave in 2022 and its role in changing permafrost and periglacial conditions at a historic mountain pass in the Eastern Alps (Hochtor, Hohe Tauern Range, Austria).

Abstract

Air temperatures in Europe in 2022 had been the highest on record for the meteorological summer season [June, July and August (JJA)], with +1.3°C above the 1991-2020 average. We studied the effects of recent warming on permafrost and periglacial conditions at a historical mountain pass in the Eastern Alps (Hochtor, 2,576 m asl, 47.08°N, 12.84°E). We used ground temperature data (2010-2022), repeated electrical resistivity tomography measurements (2019, 2022) and auxiliary data dating back to Roman times. We quantified permafrost conditions, evaluated frost-related weathering and slope processes and assessed the impact of atmospheric warming on it. Results show that summer ground surface temperatures increased by 2.5°C between 1891-1920 and 1991-2020, whereas frost-related weathering and periglacial processes decreased. The summers of 2003, 2015, 2019 and 2022 were the four warmest ones in 1887-2022. Hochtor changed in 2010-2022 from an active permafrost site to an inactive one with supra-permafrost talik. A general three-layer structure was quantified for all three ERT profiles measured. The middle, 5-10 m thick layer is ice-poor permafrost detected in 2019, whose existence, although smaller, was confirmed in 2022. Resistivity decreased at the three profiles by 3.9% to 5.2% per year, suggesting permafrost degradation. We interpret the resistivity changes between the summers of 2019 and 2022 as a long-term signal of permafrost degradation and not as the single effect of the summer heatwave in 2022. As our data show how rapidly permafrost degrades and as we face an even warmer climate for the remaining part of the 21st century, we expect that near-surface permafrost at the Hochtor site will soon be history.