Future Retreat of Great Aletsch Glacier and Hintereisferner – application of a full-Stokes model to two valley glaciers  in the European Alps

Rückamp, Martin; Cheng, Gong; Gutjahr, Karlheinz; Möller, Marco; Pellikka, Petri K. E.; Mayer, Christoph

doi:10.5194/tc-20-2999-2026

Articles | Volume 20, issue 5

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-2999-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-2999-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 20, issue 5

Research article

|

22 May 2026

Research article |

| 22 May 2026

Future Retreat of Great Aletsch Glacier and Hintereisferner – application of a full-Stokes model to two valley glaciers in the European Alps

Martin Rückamp, Gong Cheng, Karlheinz Gutjahr, Marco Möller, Petri K. E. Pellikka, and Christoph Mayer

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Final revised paper (published on 22 May 2026)
Supplement to the final revised paper
Preprint (discussion started on 20 Aug 2025)

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

RC1:
'Comment on egusphere-2025-3150', Anonymous Referee #1, 12 Sep 2025

See attachment

Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3150-RC1
- AC3: 'Reply on RC1', Martin Rückamp, 05 Feb 2026
  
  The comment was uploaded in the form of a supplement: https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2025/egusphere-2025-3150/egusphere-2025-3150-AC3-supplement.pdf
  
  Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3150-AC3
RC2:
'Comment on egusphere-2025-3150', Yoni Verhaegen, 26 Sep 2025

See attachment

Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3150-RC2
- AC2: 'Reply on RC2', Martin Rückamp, 05 Feb 2026
  
  The comment was uploaded in the form of a supplement: https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2025/egusphere-2025-3150/egusphere-2025-3150-AC2-supplement.pdf
  
  Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3150-AC2
RC3:
'Comment on egusphere-2025-3150', Anonymous Referee #3, 24 Oct 2025

See attachment.

Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3150-RC3
- AC1: 'Reply on RC3', Martin Rückamp, 05 Feb 2026
  
  The comment was uploaded in the form of a supplement: https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2025/egusphere-2025-3150/egusphere-2025-3150-AC1-supplement.pdf
  
  Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3150-AC1

Peer review completion

AR – Author's response | RR – Referee report | ED – Editor decision | EF – Editorial file upload

ED: Publish subject to revisions (further review by editor and referees) (24 Feb 2026) by Nicholas Barrand

AR by Martin Rückamp on behalf of the Authors (01 Apr 2026) Author's response Author's tracked changes Manuscript

EF by Mario Ebel (07 Apr 2026) Supplement

ED: Publish subject to minor revisions (review by editor) (15 Apr 2026) by Nicholas Barrand

ED: Publish as is (24 Apr 2026) by Nicholas Barrand

AR by Martin Rückamp on behalf of the Authors (03 May 2026) Author's response Manuscript

Post-review adjustments

AA – Author's adjustment | EA – Editor approval

AA by Martin Rückamp on behalf of the Authors (15 May 2026) Author's adjustment Manuscript

EA: Adjustments approved (15 May 2026) by Nicholas Barrand

Short summary

The study simulates the 21st-century evolution of Great Aletsch Glacier and Hintereisferner using full-Stokes ice dynamics and surface mass balance under different emission scenarios. Results show significant ice loss, with Hintereisferner expected to disappear by mid-century. Great Aletsch Glacier vanish by the end of the century under high-emission scenarios, but persist under lower-emission scenarios. These trends agree with large-scale models except some variability.