Abstract
In 2004, first absolute gravity (AG) measurements were performed on the top of Mt. Zugspitze (2 sites) and at the foot (1 site) and top (1 site) of Mt. Wank. Mt. Wank (summit height 1780 m) and Mt. Zugspitze (2960 m) are about 15 km apart from each other and belong geologically to different parts of the Northern Limestone Alps. Bridging a time span of 15 years, the deduced gravity variations for Zugspitze are in the order of −0.30 μm/s2 with a standard uncertainty of 0.04 μm/s2. The Wank stations (foot and top) show no significant gravity variation. The vertical stability of Wank summit is also confirmed by results of continuous GNSS recordings. Because an Alpine mountain uplift of 1 or 2 mm/yr cannot explain the obtained gravity decline at Zugspitze, the dominating geophysical contributions are assumed to be due to the diminishing glaciers in the vicinity. The modelled gravity trend caused by glacier retreat between epochs 1999 and 2018 amounts to −0.012 μm/s2/yr at both Zugspitze AG sites. This explains more than half of the observed gravity decrease. Long-term variations on inter-annual and climate-relevant decadal scale will be investigated in the future using as supplement superconducting gravimetry (installed in 2019) and GNSS equipment (since 2018).
Highlights
With a height of almost 3000 m above sea level Mt
The significant gravity decreases of the Zugspitze sites are expressed as yearly averages to indicate a secular linear trend
The tectonics or Permanent isostatic adjustment a sudden we argue that the mean analysis is consistent with the conventions of the Rotation and velocity determined between 2007 and 2016 does not significantly deviate from the mean
Summary
With a height of almost 3000 m above sea level Mt. Zugspitze in southern Germany is the country’s highest mountain. [4] analyzed more than 12 years of GNSS data and derived an ongoing average vertical rate of 1.8 mm/yr for the main mountain ridge of the Alps. Uplift rates from present day glacier retreat in the Alps are estimated to be around 0.1–0.2 mm/yr in the whole Alpine belt with localized maxima of up to 0.9 mm/yr (Mount Blanc region) in areas of significant mass loss. For geodynamic as well as for hydrological research, the geodetic combination of ground-based gravimetric and geometric measurements is a promising way to monitor such variations and to support model predictions by observational data, see for example [13,14]. Absolute gravimetry, superconducting gravimetry and GNSS are complementary measuring techniques in geodesy, which is exploited in this paper, cf. [15]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
