THE ANTARCTIC SIMULATOR
The University of Milano-Bicocca, and the Departement of Earth and Environmental Sciences have realized an integrated laboratory facilities with controlled atmosphere for simulate the mean arctic and antarctic environmental conditions. Cold rooms till -50°C at very clean environmental conditions, are used for drive experiments on ice and snow.
News:
Claudio Artoni on the stage of Falling Walls Lab Italy
Falling Walls Lab Italy:
EuroCold Lab. was present
EuroCold Lab. was present
A truly international pitch competition to promote the exceptional ideas of new generations and connect scientists and entrepreneurs globally: this is Falling Walls Lab. Yesterday 27th September, Claudio Artoni presented his pitch on breaking the walls of snow sciences presenting an innovative snow probe in the frame of OPTICE. This new tool have the possibility to make a quantitative analysis of the snowpack layers in a short time thus increasing operator safety.
Climate, Earth and Humans:
a sustainable approach
a sustainable approach
Today, 26th September 2023, the entire research group of the EuroCold Lab. is present at the Department of Earth and Evironmental Sciences' (DISAT) day. Valter Maggi illustrated the research activities of the glaciological team with a focus on the cold laboratories. The congress was the opportunity to discover all the important research topics performed in the frame of the DISAT.
To discover the program of the day visit the congress page.
Valter Maggi talking about the glaciological research during the DISAT day.
Claudio Artoni and Marco Potenza on the top of the Rutor glacier controlling the status of the camera.
Camera on the Rutor glacier
Great news from the Rutor glacier in Aosta Valley!
Claudio Artoni and Marco Potenza reached Colle del Rutor where 2 years ago they installed a camera for the OPTICE project.
The camera was in excellent conditions, it seemed that wind, snow, rain and sun hadn’t affected the solar panel and the chassis.
In fact, after having removed it and having verified its functioning, the researchers founded that it had worked continuously from the day of installation to today, taking two photos a day.
Now an ongoing elaboration work is up to the members of the OPTICE project to create a time lapse on the state of the glacier and to see the trend of snowfalls over the last two years.
To know more about the project visit the OPTICE website.
Drilling firn cores in Antarctica
"Within the MIMIC project of the PNRA (Programma Nazionale di Ricerche in Antartide) volcanologists of the INGV (Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia), biologists of the CNR-ISP (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Istituto di Scienze Polari) and glaciologists of EuroCold Lab. of the Milano-Bicocca University carried out two expeditions in which volcanic rocks from the ice-caves were sampled together with samples for biological studies in areas of high emission of hot gasses and firn cores from the summit and slopes of Melbourne and Rittmann volcanoes."
Here you can read the full article on the project written by Paola Del Carlo and pubblished on the "Geologicamente" magazine by the SGI (Società Geologica Italiana).
Form the EuroCold Lab., Valter Maggi and Claudio Artoni participated respectively at the 37th and 38th expeditions in Antarctica for this project and collected many firn cores from the caldera and volcanic slopes.
Researchers at the "Mandron Città di Trento" Hut and
Claudio Artoni talking about the ClimADA project.
Photos by Rudy Signorini
Climbing for Climate 5th edition: Bicocca was there
The event Climbing for Climate (30-31 July 2023), organized by the University of Brescia, the Universities of the RUS (Rete delle Università per lo Sviluppo sostenibile), Italian Alpine Club, Italian Glaciological Committee and Legambiente, involved many scientists and researchers from as many Italian universities in a two-days hiking to reach the Adamello glacier.
The aim of the event is to monitor the melting of glaciers and launch an appeal to citizens and institutions for actions against the climate change.
For the University of Milano-Bicocca, Deborah Fiorini and Claudio Artoni hiked togheter with other researchers bringing the last news about the ClimADA project (ice core from the Adamello glacier) while Valter Maggi made a speach at the press conference regarding the glaciers retreat.
Hai mai letto un libro di ghiaccio?
Sei uno/a studente/ssa o un/a professore/ssa di scuola secondaria superiore e sei interessato/a a indagare con la tua classe i meccanismi del passato del nostro pianeta e dei cambiamenti climatici, con un occhio rivolto al futuro? Vuoi leggere il racconto narrato dai ghiacciai, archivi climatici in fusione?
Il progetto di orientamento "Hai mai letto un libro di ghiaccio" fa per te. In un modulo di 5 ore, avrai la possibilità di conoscere le tecniche di indagine utilizzate nel nostro laboratorio e toccare con mano campioni di neve e ghiaccio provenienti dall'Antartide, dall'Artico e dalle nostre Alpi.
Per ulteriori informazioni e per prenotare la tua esperienza, visita la pagina del progetto.
"Ghiaccio sottile", RaiPlay Sound Podcast
"Ghiaccio Sottile", the podcast available on RaiPlay Sound, aims to be a scientific, cultural and geographical exploration journey, to tell the story of the melting glaciers in eight episodes. Davide S. Sapienza journalist, author of the texts, together with Lorenzo Pavolini, narrator of the podcast, in over a year of work and expeditions with the protagonists of the ice, invite us to reflect on the continuous transformation of the climate on our planet.
A journey also inside the EuroCold Lab. where Valter Maggi and Claudio Artoni tell us about the polar expeditions and the scintific work inside the laboratories facility.
Bicocca Polar Day
To celebrate the 10th birthday of the EuroCold Lab and the 30 years of Polar Sciences in Bicocca, we are glad to invite you at the
Bicocca Polar Day: June 7th 2023 Aula Marchetti, U1 Bulding, Piazza della Scienza 1, Milano.
During the day many researchers and professors will present their studies and there will be the possibility to chat with our researchers drinking a coffee.
Turing the afternoon many guided tours of the lab will be organized with the unique opportunity to see and discover Arctic and Antarctic ice cores.
More information can be found here or you can write an email at: eurocold@unimib.it
THE EVENT IS SOLD OUT!
ATTENTION: due to the high number of requests to participate and the reduced capacity of the room, we have decided to create an online webinar. To join use this Webex link
Climate change, glaciers and snow
Saturday 18th March 2023 our chief professor Valter Maggi will be involved in the congress "Climate change and lombardy mountains" from 9:30 to 12:30 at the Palamonti of Bergamo (via Pizzo della Presolana 15, Bergamo).
This event can also be seen on the YouTube channel of CAI Lombardia in Live streaming
Tuesday 21st March 2023 our technical manager Claudio Artoni will present a conference on the relations between climate change and snow, from 21:00 at CAI Milano (via Duccio di Boninsegna 21/23, Milano)
ClimADA meeting 2022
Fondazione Lombardia per l'Ambiente (lead partners) in collaboration with Fondazione Cariplo (financier of the project) has organized the event: "The impact of climate change on Alpine glaciers: the case of Adamello", with the aim to analyze the results of the first year of work of ClimADA project.
With the authoritative patronage of the Italian Glaciological Committee and the Italian Society of Climate Sciences, the appointment on Thursday 1 December brought together the project partners, the institutions involved and the protagonists of this important adventure.
Conference proceedings can be found here
Environmental sustainability education fair
We are present at the Environmental Sustainability Education Fair which is taking place in Piazza Città di Lombardia 1 from October 18 to 21 2022, organized by the Foundation Lombardia per l'Ambiente (FLA) with the General Directorate for Environment and Climate of the Lombardy Region and ARPA Lombardia.
Workshops, contests and the opportunity to see a portion of ice core extracted from the Adamello glacier as part of the ClimADA project await you. The event will continue until Friday with many initiatives on sustainability dedicated to future generations.
To discover the program:
Programma Fiera dell'educazione alla sostenibilità ambientale
Pianeta 2030: acting for climate
Interview with Claudio Artoni, techincal manager of the EuroCold lab and Earth scientist and Michela Rovelli of Corriere della Sera for the world environment day on June 6th 2022 on the interdisciplinary project OPTICE which aims to investigate the optical properties of mineral dust in snow and ice cores to better understand climate change.
“ClimADA”, the climate of the last centuries in the Adamello Glacier
ClimADA starts, the second phase of the project which in April 2021 allowed the extraction of 224 meters of ice from the Adamello Glacier, thanks to an operation never before successful in the entire Alpine arc. In fact, the series of analyzes aimed at reconstructing the climatic and environmental conditions of the central part of the Alps has begun in the Bicocca EuroCOLD laboratories, which will allow us to go back about 1000 years.
Ice core drilling progression on
Adamello Glacier
The drilling end at -225 m depth, after find some sones in the ice core. It is too dangerous for the drilling system to continue. Great shot for the laboratory collaboration and for the ADA270 project.
Drilling Start at Mandrone Glacier
The 8th of April 2021, on the Pian di Neve, the accumulation area of the Adamello Glacier (Adamello Group, Brescia, Italy) start the drilling activities to reach the bedrock at 270 m below the surface.
Headed by Regione Lombardia and including many other regional entities and private sponsors, the University of Milano-Bicocca chair the scientific activity in collaboration with Paul Scherer Institute and The Coherentia spin-up to realize the drilling activities, collect the ice cores and monitoring the evolution of the glacier.
The bottom of the glacier can preserve ice that can 1 thousand year old, permitting to reconstruct the variability of he regional climate and history of environment of the last millennium.
Covid-19 emission impact
The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) provides daily analyses of hourly concentrations of regulatory air pollutants. These can serve as “ground truth” to assess quantitatively, and in more details, the changes in concentrations identified by satellites and attributed to the effects of COVID-19 measures across the world. In figure the emissions in January and March 2020 along the Po Plain in Northern Italy.
Commentary on Science
The recent EuroCold Lab collaboration paper, publish on Nature Communication, create strong interest on the scienific community as demontrate the news on Science journal.
Researchers have discovered a common martian mineral deep within an ice core from Antarctica. The find suggests the mineral—a brittle, yellowbrown substance known as jarosite—was forged the same way on both Earth and Mars: from dust trapped within ancient ice deposits. It also reveals how important these glaciers were on the Red Planet: Not only did they carve valleys, the researchers say, but they also helped create the very stuff Mars is made of.
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/01/substance-found-antarctic-ice-may-solve-martian-mystery
From Antarctica to Mars
On Nature Communication the first result comparing Antartic formations of mineral in deep Antarctic glacier and the possible glacier effects on Mars.
Many interpretations have been proposed to explain the presence of jarosite within Martian surficial sediments, including the possibility that it precipitated within paleo-ice deposits owing to englacial weathering of dust. However, until now a similar geochemical process was not observed on Earth nor in other planetary settings. We report a multi-analytical indication of jarosite formation within deep ice. Below 1000 m depth, jarosite crystals adhering on residual silica-rich particles have been identified in the Talos Dome ice core (East Antarctica) and interpreted as products of weathering involving aeolian dust and acidic atmospheric aerosols. The progressive increase of ice metamorphism and re-crystallization with depth, favours the relocation and concentration of dust and the formation of acidic brines in isolated environments, allowing chemical reactions and mineral neo-formation to occur. This is the first described englacial diagenetic mechanism occurring in deep Antarctic ice and supports the ice-weathering model for jarosite formation on Mars, highlighting the geologic importance of paleo ice-related processes on this planet. Additional implications concern the preservation of dust-related signals in deep ice cores with respect to paleoclimatic reconstructions and the englacial history of meteorites from Antarctic blue ice fields.
Baccolo, G., Delmonte, B., Niles, P.B. et al. Jarosite formation in deep Antarctic ice provides a window into acidic, water-limited weathering on Mars. Nat Commun 12, 436 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-20705-z
Ice Core, DNA and Biodiversity on the Alps
Current biodiversity loss is a major concern and thus biodiversity assessment of modern ecosystems is compelling and needs to be contextualized on a longer timescale. In this ice core study, a collaboration between Fondazione Mach (Italy) , Uppsala Univerity (Sweden), MUSE Trento (Italy) and Eurocold Lab, University of Milano Bicocca (Italy), we tested, for the first time, the potential of HTS to estimate plant biodiversity archived in the surface layers of a temperate alpine glacier, amplifying the trnL barcode for vascular plants from eDNA of firn samples. Results highlighted the presence of pollen and plant remains within the distinct layers of snow, firn and ice. DNA metabarcoding described distinct plant species composition among the different samples, with a broad taxonomic representation of the biodiversity of the catchment area and a high-ranking resolution. New knowledge on climate and plant biodiversity changes of large catchment areas can be obtained by this novel approach, relevant for future estimates of climate change effects.
SEM images of dust grains extracted from TALDICE sections at 1,560 m depth (a, c, d, f) and 1534 m depth (b, e). 110 Scale bar: 1 μm.
https://eartharxiv.org/repository/view/233/
Department of Environmental and Earth Sciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy; INFN, section of Milano-Bicocca, Italy; NASA Johnson Space Center, USA; Diamond Light Source, UK; Department of Physical, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Siena, Italy; Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, INFN, Italy; Rome International Center for Materials Science - Superstripes, Italy; Department of Earth Sciences, Hong Kong; Jacobs, NASA Johnson Space Center, USA; Department of Science, University Roma Tre, Italy.
Many interpretations have been proposed to explain the presence of jarosite within Martian surficial sediments, including the possibility that it precipitated within paleo-ice deposits owing to englacial weathering of dust. But until now a similar mechanism was not observed on Earth nor in other planetary settings. We report the first multi-analytical indication of jarosite formation within deep ice. Below 1000 m depth, jarosite crystals adhering on residual silica-rich particles have been identified in the Talos Dome ice core (East Antarctica) and interpreted as products of weathering involving aeolian mineral dust and acidic atmospheric aerosols. It supports the ice-weathering model for jarosite formation on Mars, highlighting the geologic importance of paleo ice-related processes on this planet. Additional implications concern the preservation of dust-related signals in deep ice cores with respect to paleoclimatic reconstructions and the englacial history of meteorites from Antarctic blue ice fields.
A 3800 year-long radiocarbon-dated and highly-resolved palaeoecological record from Lake Fimon (N-Italy) served to investigate the effects of potential teleconnections between North Atlantic and mid-to-low latitudes at the transition from Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 to 2. The high median time-resolution of 58 years allows the identification of five abrupt event-boundaries (i.e., main forest expansion and decline excursions) synchronous with the sharp stadial/interstadial (GS/GI) transitions within dating uncertainties. During Heinrich Stadial 3 (HS 3) we reconstruct more open and dry conditions, compared to the other GS, with a dominant regional scale fire signal. Linkages between local fires and climate-driven fuel changes resulted in high-magnitude fire peaks close to GI/GS boundaries, even exacerbated by local peatland conditions. WThe authorse hypothesise that this signal, broadly resembling that of other mid-latitudes proxies, may be attributed to the southward shift of the Northern Hemisphere storm tracks and the associated delayed iceberg discharge events as documented during other HS.
Publish on open access Nature Scientific Report
East Antarctic International Ice Sheet Traverse
Una 'traversa' sul plateau in Antartide per stimare l'aumento del livelo dei mari. Dal 5 dicembre 2019 al 25 gennaio 2020, una squadra composta da scienziati francesi del Cnrs, dell'Università Grenoble Alpes e da scienziati italiani del Cnr e dell'Ingv percorrerà 1318 km tra andata e ritorno in mezzo al plateau dell'Antartide, su una traversa organizzata dall'Istituto Polare Francese (Ipev) con la collaborazione del Programma nazionale di ricerche in Antartide (Pnra). Tra i ricercatori italiani sarà presente in campo Andrea Spolaor del CNR-ISP.
French, Italian and Australian scientists unite their knowledge and capability to study the interior of the Antarctic plateau between the French-Italian Concordia station (75°S, 123° E), and the US South Pole station (90°S). The scientific objectives of EAIIST are to study the icy terrain of the Antarctic continent in its driest places.
The International project for retrieve 1.5 million year, from a continuous ice core to bedrock in Antarctica, covering the climate history of the Mid Pleistocene Transition and beyond.
Lezione Zero "Milano Bicocca:
la sostenibilità come obiettivo comune"
la sostenibilità come obiettivo comune"
Una iniziativa di sensibilizzazione sui temi della sostenibilità realizzata in avvio di anno accademico in collaborazione con BASE – Bicocca Ambiente Società Economia, destinata a tutti i nostri studenti, indipendentemente dalla specifica area di formazione.
Nella lezione i temi verranno affrontati con un approccio trasversale, vista la rilevanza che tutte le discipline hanno in questo ambito.
Nel corso dell'evento verranno presentate le attività di didattica, di ricerca e terza missione che l'Università svolge sui temi della sostenibilità, e le tante iniziative in programma, per rendere la nostra comunità sempre più attenta all'ambiente e alla società che ci circondano.
GIORNATA MONDIALE
DELL'AMBIENTE 2020
GHIACCIO BOLLENTE: LA RICERCA SUI CAMBIAMENTI CLIMATICI DALLE ALPI AL POLO SUD.
COLLEGAMENTO LIVE CON LA STAZIONE CONCORDIA ANTARTIDE
In occasione della Giornata Mondiale dell’Ambiente 2020 Time for Nature, la Centrale dell’Acqua di Milano ha organizzato un evento speciale insieme ad ENEA, Università di Roma Tre, Università Statale di Milano, Università Milano Bicocca e Comitato Glaciologico Italiano.
L’incontro on line ha l’obiettivo di far conoscere la ricerca sui cambiamenti climatici attraverso lo studio della criosfera – la superfice terrestre coperta di ghiacci, ovvero l’acqua solida presente sul nostro pianeta - dando voce agli scienziati attivi sul campo.
La diretta sarà un’occasione unica per poter conoscere il lavoro e la vita quotidiana dei ricercatori del PNRA (Programma Nazionale di Ricerche in Antartide), attraverso un collegamento live con la base di ricerca Concordia che si trova nel continente di ghiaccio dell’Antartide.
Introdurranno e dialogheranno con i ricercatori in Antartide alcuni tra i più rilevanti glaciologi italiani: prof. Massimo Frezzotti(presidente del Comitato Glaciologico Italiano, Università Roma Tre), prof.ssa Guglielmina Diolaiuti (Università Statale di Milano), prof. Valter Maggi (Università Bicocca di Milano).
Situata a 75° 06′ sud, 123°21′est e distante circa 1200 km dalla costa, a 3230 m di altezza, la Stazione Concordia è stata costituita in sinergia da Italia e Francia. E’ costituita da due edifici comunicanti per mezzo di un passaggio coperto. Ogni cilindro si compone di tre piani, e ospita stanze da letto, laboratori scientifici e locali per i servizi fondamentali (ciclo dell’acqua, motore per la generazione di energia elettrica, calore….). Un medico specialista per le emergenze trascorre l’inverno a Concordia. La stazione Concordia ospita ricerche di astrofisica, sismologia, fisica dell’atmosfera e climatologia, biologia e medicina.
SEM images of dust grains extracted from TALDICE sections at 1,560 m depth (a, c, d, f) and 1534 m depth (b, e). Scale bar: 1 µm.
From Antarctica to Mars
New research from Eurocod Lab, in collaboration with INFN, Diamond Synchrotron, University of Roma 3 and NASA, for understanad the presence of some hydrate minerals on the Mars surface.
The article is now open source on Eartharxiv.org.
Baccolo et al., 2020. Jarosite formation in deep Antarctic ice provides a window into acidic, water-limited weathering on Mars
Many interpretations have been proposed to explain the presence of jarosite, a ferric-potassium hydroxide sulfate [KFe3+3(SO4)2(OH)6], within Martian surficial sediments, including the possibility that it precipitated within paleo-ice deposits owing to englacial weathering of dust. This is the first described englacial diagenetic mechanism occurring in TALDICE ice core, and supports the ice-weathering model for jarosite formation on Mars, highlighting the geologic importance of paleo ice-related processes on this planet.
East Greenland ice core dust record reveals timing of Greenland ice sheet advance and retreat
Accurate estimates of the past extent of the Greenland ice sheet provide critical constraints for ice sheet models used to determine Greenland’s response to climate forcing and contribution to global sea level.
Barbara Delmonte and Giovanni Baccolo from EUROCOLD LAB are two of the authors.
Condensed Matter Researches in Cryospheric Science
Augusto Marcelli, Valter Maggi and Cunde Xiao (Eds.)
Pages: 144
Published: September 2019
ISBN 978-3-03921-323-8 (Pbk); ISBN 978-3-03921-324-5 (PDF)
https://doi.org/10.3390/books978-3-03921-324-5 (registering DOI)
© 2019 by the authors; CC BY-NC-ND licence
https://www.mdpi.com/books/pdfview/book/1550 - Free Download
These results presented in this book highlights of some of the most recent advances in cryospheric studies, especially in relation to mineral dust and aerosols in the atmosphere. They evidence the complexity of chemical–physical processes involving solid compounds occurring in glacier, snow, and permafrost environments, covering different aspects such as spatial and temporal trends, as well as the impact of the mineral and non-mineral particles. These studies also demonstrate the need for collaborative interdisciplinary and transnational efforts to better understand the challenges of the present climatic and environmental research studies on Earth, but also out of the Earth’s system. The results show that recent advances in measurement techniques and source apportionment are powerful and sophisticated tools that may provide novel high-quality scientific information but represent only the first challenging step.