Calderone glacier

Calderone glacier
"Il Calderone", Europe's second southernmost glacial mass as seen in July 2007, deglaciation has not slowed, making it unlikely the Calderone will survive past 2030
Calderone glacier Glacier's location in Italy
Location	Southern slopes of the Corno Grande massif
Coordinates	42°28′15.794″N 13°34′0.156″E

The Calderone glacier (Italian: Ghiacciaio del Calderone) is a glacier located in the Apennine Mountains in Abruzzo, Italy. Found in the Gran Sasso d'Italia mountain group, it lies just beneath the Corno Grande, the highest peak in the Apennines.

With the disappearance of the Corral de la Veleta glacier in the Sierra Nevada in 1913, "Il Calderone" became one of Europe's southernmost known glaciers (42°28′N, 13°33′E), being slightly to the north only compared to Snezhnika (latitude of 41°46′09″ N) and Banski Suhodol Glaciers in Pirin Mountain in Bulgaria.[1][2][3][4] If present deglaciation trends continue, the Calderone may soon disappear as well. The discovery of a number of small glaciers in the Accursed Mountains in 2009 seemed to threaten Calderone's positions.[5]

Historical surface of the glacier

In 1794, the Calderone had an estimated volume of over 4 million cubic metres; by 1916, the glacier’s volume had decreased to 3.3 million cubic metres, and by 1990, it had decreased to 360,931 cubic metres. In 1998 Italian glaciologists at a symposium in L'Aquila predicted that the Calderone would vanish within a couple decades.[6]

Some glaciologists have predicted that the glacier will disappear by 2020. However, 2014 has been slightly positive for the glacier. By the end of August 2014, the volume of residual ice was larger than during the same period in 2013. It disappeared in 2016 after droughts.

Surface and volume of the glacier
Year	Surface m^2	Volume m^3
1794	104,257	4,332,207
1884	90,886	3,382,166
1916	63,335	3,386,485
1934	59,713	2,461,529
1960	60,030	1,729,934
1990	52,586	360,931
2005	32,900	---
2006	32,700	---
2008	35,545	---

References

1. "(the pirin mountains, bulgaria) in the last ten years" (PDF). igipz.pan.pl. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
2. Grunewald, K; Scheithauer, J (2010), "Europe's southernmost glaciers: response and adaptation to climate change", Journal of Glaciology, 56 (195): 129–142, Bibcode:2010JGlac..56..129G, doi:10.3189/002214310791190947
3. Gachev, Emil; Gikov, Alexander; Zlatinova, Cvetelina; Blagoev, Bozidar. "Present state of Bulgarian glacierets" (PDF). Landform Analysis. 11.
4. Gachev, Emil; Stoyanov, Krasimir (2013). "СЪВРЕМЕННИ СНЕЖНО-ФИРНОВИ ТЕЛА В ПЛАНИНАТА ПРОКЛЕТИЯ (АЛБАНСКИ АЛПИ)" (PDF). Problems of Geography (in Bulgarian).
5. Grunewald, K; Scheithauer, J (2010), "Europe's southernmost glaciers: response and adaptation to climate change", Journal of Glaciology, 56 (195): 129–142, Bibcode:2010JGlac..56..129G, doi:10.3189/002214310791190947
6. Visconti, Guido; M. Beniston; Emilio D. Iannorelli; Diego Barba (2001-04-30). Global Change and Protected Areas (Advances in Global Change Research). New York: Kluwer Academic Publishers. pp. 425–435. ISBN 0-7923-6918-1.