Rock-glacier, the hidden ice of the Alps

The thawing of rock glaciers (permafrost) and glaciers is often a source of enrichment in heavy trace metals for high-altitude waters, where they reach concentrations that may exceed legislative limits for human use, thus affecting the chemical and biological quality and functionality of Alpine aquatic ecosystems. The project aims to understand and quantify the origin, fate and effects of these trace elements in three glacial and periglacial basins on the northern and southern slopes of the central-eastern Alps, with a focus on abiotic and biotic processes that alter the concentration of metals in water and trophic networks (assimilation, bioaccumulation).