BigLink: Biosphere-Geosphere interactions: Linking climate change, weathering, soil formation and ecosystem evolution

BigLink is a multidisciplinary approach aimed at a better understanding of the processes driving soil and ecosystem development. In the first funding period, we will study the processes associated with initial weathering in previously glaciated mountain areas. The work will be conducted on the forefield of the Dammagletscher (Canton Uri, Switzerland).

The project is organized in five, closely coordinated subprojects with collaborators from ETH Zürich, WSL and EAWAG. The Section of Glaciology of VAW is responsible for glaciological investigations and contributes to subproject 5 dealing with the hydrology of the glacier forefield.  The objective of this subproject is the assessment and modeling of past, present and future thermal and hydrological conditions of a glacier forefield, which are the driving forces for the chemical, physical and biological processes.

We will determine the trends in the temporal changes of glacier mass balance in relation to passed and future climate and assess the impact of the ongoing and future deglaciation on water availability and distribution across the glacier forefield.