27. Glacial, Periglacial and the Recent Permafrost Domains in the German Alps

The German part of the Alps is still home to four small glaciers whose further existence is under threat. Since the Little Ice Age, the glacier area has shrunk from around 400 hectares to 36 hectares in 2023. Even if greenhouse gas emissions were stopped immediately, their disappearance would only be a matter of time, as they are losing mass across all altitude ranges, even under current climatic conditions. The reconstruction of the glacier bed based on radar measurements of ice thickness shows some overdeepening on the Zugspitzplatt, which could lead to the formation of two small lakes after deglacierization, provided there is no underground karst drainage. Glacial erosional forms range from small, subglacially formed glaciofluvial phenomena to roches moutonnées, as well as cirques, âretes and horns. Forms of glacial deposition are mainly push moraines which can be found where they have not been destroyed by landslides or fluvial erosion. Permafrost distribution has also significantly changed since the Little Ice Age. Present-day permafrost is concentrated in a few km² around the Zugspitze, but remnant ice is still widely distributed in debris and in rock faces, e.g. in the debris surrounding the Zugspitzplatt and in north faces above 2700 m a.s.l. but also locally in lower-lying areas. Both rock permafrost and ice-rich permafrost in debris undergo rapid degradation at the Zugspitze and are expected to disappear in the next 50 years.