Skuta Glacier (
Slovenian: ''Ledenik pod Skuto''), located beneath mountain
Skuta in
Kamnik-Savinja Alps in
Slovenia
Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
is the most south-eastern glacier in the
Alps
The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia.
...
.
Geography
The Skuta Glacier lies in a north-western facing
cirque
A (; from the Latin word ) is an amphitheatre-like valley formed by Glacier#Erosion, glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie (from , meaning a pot or cauldron) and ; ). A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landform a ...
—a bowl-shaped hollow carved into the
limestone
Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
mountains—of the
Kamnik–Savinja Alps
The Kamnik–Savinja Alps () are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps. They lie in northern Slovenia, except for the northernmost part, which lies in Austria.
The western part of the range was named the Kamnik Alps () in 1778 by the sc ...
in northern Slovenia. Sheltered by steep rock walls from direct sunlight for much of the year, it sits at an average elevation of 2,070 metres above sea level, and, as of 2020, covers only about 1.5 hectares, making it one of Slovenia's two remaining glaciers alongside the
Triglav Glacier.
Skuta Glacier had an area of in 1950 and in 2013.
It is one of the lowest elevation glaciers in the
Alps
The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia.
...
.
Because it occupies a confined depression, the Skuta Glacier is classified as a very small glacier, or
glacieret
A glacieret is a very small glacier, with a surface area less than . The term is sometimes incorrectly used to refer to a large, persistent snow patch of firn or névé.
Characteristics
Sometimes hardly larger than snowfields and perennial firn ...
, a term used for ice bodies typically smaller than 0.1 km
2. Its position in a shaded cirque has helped it persist despite regional warming, but it remains highly sensitive to changes in temperature and snow accumulation.
Monitoring and recent changes
Systematic field measurements of the Skuta Glacier began in 1946 using fixed reference stakes set into the ice or surrounding rock. At the end of each melt season, observers recorded how far the ice margin had retreated, both vertically and horizontally, with tape-measure and compass. From 1962 onward, regular photographs were taken from a single, non-fixed vantage point known locally as "At the Larch". By comparing these non-metric photographs to a modern
digital terrain model
A digital elevation model (DEM) or digital surface model (DSM) is a 3D computer graphics representation of elevation data to represent terrain or overlaying objects, commonly of a planet, Natural satellite, moon, or asteroid. A "global DEM" refer ...
(a computer-generated map of ground elevations), researchers applied a monoplotting technique—visually fitting the photo to the terrain model—to trace the glacier's three-dimensional outline and upper edge.
Analyses of seventeen photographs spanning 1970 to 2015 show that, although the glacier's surface area oscillated between about one and two hectares, there was little net loss in
planimetric extent. In contrast, the elevation of its highest ice margin fell by nearly 40 metres over the same period, signalling substantial thinning. Independent ice-thickness measurements made in 2006 with a steam drill found an average thickness of 7 metres (maximum nearly 12 metres), giving a total ice volume of just under 80,000 cubic metres.
Climate influences
No
weather station
A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for measuring atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasting, weather forecasts and to study the weather and clima ...
exists directly on the Skuta Glacier, so
climatologist
Climatology (from Greek , ''klima'', "slope"; and , ''-logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. Climate concerns the atmospheric ...
s use data from nearby high-altitude stations on the mountains Krvavec (1,742 m) and Kredarica (2,514 m), adjusted to the glacier's elevation by applying a
lapse rate
The lapse rate is the rate at which an atmospheric variable, normally temperature in Earth's atmosphere, falls with altitude. ''Lapse rate'' arises from the word ''lapse'' (in its "becoming less" sense, not its "interruption" sense). In dry air, ...
of −0.44 °C per 100 m. These records show a rise in mean annual
air temperature
Atmospheric temperature is a measure of temperature at different levels of the Earth's atmosphere. It is governed by many factors, including incoming solar radiation, humidity, and altitude. The abbreviation MAAT is often used for Mean Annual Air ...
from around −0.2 °C in the 1960s to about 1.7 °C by 2015—an increase sufficient to cross the
freezing point
The melting point (or, rarely, liquefaction point) of a substance is the temperature at which it changes state of matter, state from solid to liquid. At the melting point the solid and liquid phase (matter), phase exist in Thermodynamic equilib ...
in summer.
Equally important is the maximum seasonal snow-cover depth, which arrives mainly as
avalanche
An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a Grade (slope), slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be triggered spontaneously, by factors such as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, othe ...
s and
drifting snow in this cirque setting. Winters with deep
snowpack
Snowpack is an accumulation of snow that compresses with time and melts seasonally, often at high elevation or high latitude. Snowpacks are an important water resource that feed streams and rivers as they melt, sometimes leading to flooding. Snow ...
s insulate the glacier, preserving its upper edge through the melt season, whereas years with shallow cover allow the ice margin to retreat to lower elevations. This interplay between rising temperatures and variable snow depth explains much of the glacier's year-to-year fluctuation in thickness, despite its relatively stable footprint.
Skuta Glacier in figures
* Area: (as of 2007)
* Elevation:
* Average ice thickness: (as of September 2006)
* Maximum ice thickness: (as of September 2006)
* Volume: (as of September 2006)
References
{{Reflist, refs=
[{{cite web , url=http://giam.zrc-sazu.si/?q=sl/node/421 , title= Domov | ZRC SAZU, website=giam.zrc-sazu.si , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140111171001/http://giam.zrc-sazu.si/?q=sl%2Fnode%2F421 , archive-date=2014-01-11]
[{{cite journal , last1=Triglav Čekada , first1=Mihaela , last2=Barbo , first2=Patricija , last3=Pavšek , first3=Miha , last4=Zorn , first4=Matija , title=Changes in the Skuta Glacier (southeastern Alps) assessed using non-metric images , journal=Acta geographica Slovenica , volume=60 , issue=2 , year=2020 , doi=10.3986/AGS.7674 , doi-access=free , pages=175–190 , bibcode=2020AcGSG..60..175T , url=https://ojs.zrc-sazu.si/ags/article/download/7674/8824]
Glaciers of Slovenia
Glaciers of the Alps
Landforms of Upper Carniola