Melaine Le Roy
@subfossilguy.bsky.social
Assiduous dendroglaciologist, moraine lover, wandering geomorphologist, living in the Holocene, climate (and eco-) anxious, @edytem.bsky.social
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Melaine-Le-Roy-2?ev=hdr_xprf
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Melaine-Le-Roy-2?ev=hdr_xprf
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Melaine Le Roy
@subfossilguy.bsky.social
· Oct 21
Aletsch Glacier forefield is so gigantic that fieldwork is demanding there!
Today was maybe one of the hardest working day ever...
Took me 3h40 to get back to Belalp with 40kg (rope, chainsaw, wood)... 😫
Today was maybe one of the hardest working day ever...
Took me 3h40 to get back to Belalp with 40kg (rope, chainsaw, wood)... 😫
Time to share! 🤍
Here are some of the subfossil wood samples that have been shipped all over Europe these days as counterparts for my recent crowdfunding campaign on Wemakeit! 🧊🔬
Thank you to all contributors for this incredible success! 🙏
Which one do you prefer? 🌲💍
Here are some of the subfossil wood samples that have been shipped all over Europe these days as counterparts for my recent crowdfunding campaign on Wemakeit! 🧊🔬
Thank you to all contributors for this incredible success! 🙏
Which one do you prefer? 🌲💍
December 26, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Time to share! 🤍
Here are some of the subfossil wood samples that have been shipped all over Europe these days as counterparts for my recent crowdfunding campaign on Wemakeit! 🧊🔬
Thank you to all contributors for this incredible success! 🙏
Which one do you prefer? 🌲💍
Here are some of the subfossil wood samples that have been shipped all over Europe these days as counterparts for my recent crowdfunding campaign on Wemakeit! 🧊🔬
Thank you to all contributors for this incredible success! 🙏
Which one do you prefer? 🌲💍
Chiaro-oscuro is the most moving aesthetic 🖤🤍
December 23, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Chiaro-oscuro is the most moving aesthetic 🖤🤍
Love this photo, perfectly capturing the tense fieldwork in these unique locations, perched 200 metres above the valley floor, at the top of a steep (>50°) and frightening gully! 🏔️
Operating the chainsaw with one hand...on one foot! 🔥
Can you spot the subfossil log? 🌲
Mont Miné's days... 2017 🥰
Operating the chainsaw with one hand...on one foot! 🔥
Can you spot the subfossil log? 🌲
Mont Miné's days... 2017 🥰
December 22, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Love this photo, perfectly capturing the tense fieldwork in these unique locations, perched 200 metres above the valley floor, at the top of a steep (>50°) and frightening gully! 🏔️
Operating the chainsaw with one hand...on one foot! 🔥
Can you spot the subfossil log? 🌲
Mont Miné's days... 2017 🥰
Operating the chainsaw with one hand...on one foot! 🔥
Can you spot the subfossil log? 🌲
Mont Miné's days... 2017 🥰
On 20th Dec. in the morning, a huge aerosol caused by the break-up of a serac from the Aiguille Verte summit ice cap ran down the Cordier couloir and ended up on Argentière Glacier! 😮🧊❄️
📽️ Thomas Lebas
📽️ Thomas Lebas
December 22, 2025 at 8:12 PM
On 20th Dec. in the morning, a huge aerosol caused by the break-up of a serac from the Aiguille Verte summit ice cap ran down the Cordier couloir and ended up on Argentière Glacier! 😮🧊❄️
📽️ Thomas Lebas
📽️ Thomas Lebas
Snow at mid elevation will no longer be a thing of the 21st century! ❄️😢
Andermatt (UR, central Swiss Alps, 1500 m asl)
22 Dec. 2025
... 7 cm! 😱
Via @msaenger.bsky.social
Andermatt (UR, central Swiss Alps, 1500 m asl)
22 Dec. 2025
... 7 cm! 😱
Via @msaenger.bsky.social
December 22, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Snow at mid elevation will no longer be a thing of the 21st century! ❄️😢
Andermatt (UR, central Swiss Alps, 1500 m asl)
22 Dec. 2025
... 7 cm! 😱
Via @msaenger.bsky.social
Andermatt (UR, central Swiss Alps, 1500 m asl)
22 Dec. 2025
... 7 cm! 😱
Via @msaenger.bsky.social
Resilience before the word even existed! 🤍
Somewhere in the Alps,
8,200 years ago,
a larch tree was injured
and healed.
Growth rings draw it 🖌️
Somewhere in the Alps,
8,200 years ago,
a larch tree was injured
and healed.
Growth rings draw it 🖌️
December 21, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Resilience before the word even existed! 🤍
Somewhere in the Alps,
8,200 years ago,
a larch tree was injured
and healed.
Growth rings draw it 🖌️
Somewhere in the Alps,
8,200 years ago,
a larch tree was injured
and healed.
Growth rings draw it 🖌️
Furgg Glacier and Matterhorn
1905 | 2022
📷 @glacionaut
1905 | 2022
📷 @glacionaut
December 21, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Furgg Glacier and Matterhorn
1905 | 2022
📷 @glacionaut
1905 | 2022
📷 @glacionaut
Reposted by Melaine Le Roy
I've put together my predictions for 2026 and 2027 temperatures over at The Climate Brink. I expect 2026 will likely end up similar to 2023 and 2025 at ~1.4C, while 2027 will likely be considerably warmer (conditional on El Nino): www.theclimatebrink....
December 20, 2025 at 5:43 PM
I've put together my predictions for 2026 and 2027 temperatures over at The Climate Brink. I expect 2026 will likely end up similar to 2023 and 2025 at ~1.4C, while 2027 will likely be considerably warmer (conditional on El Nino): www.theclimatebrink....
Argentière Glacier front
June 2025
Overview of a dying (former) ice front of one of major Alpine glaciers during last June crazy heatwave! 🧊🔥
The dead ice lowest point is ~1650 m and the ice cliff at the background - which hardly feeds it anymore - is ~2200 m asl 😨
June 2025
Overview of a dying (former) ice front of one of major Alpine glaciers during last June crazy heatwave! 🧊🔥
The dead ice lowest point is ~1650 m and the ice cliff at the background - which hardly feeds it anymore - is ~2200 m asl 😨
December 21, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Argentière Glacier front
June 2025
Overview of a dying (former) ice front of one of major Alpine glaciers during last June crazy heatwave! 🧊🔥
The dead ice lowest point is ~1650 m and the ice cliff at the background - which hardly feeds it anymore - is ~2200 m asl 😨
June 2025
Overview of a dying (former) ice front of one of major Alpine glaciers during last June crazy heatwave! 🧊🔥
The dead ice lowest point is ~1650 m and the ice cliff at the background - which hardly feeds it anymore - is ~2200 m asl 😨
Spectacular frontal view of Argentière Glacier 🧊🔥
July 2024
Argentière Gl. spans 3600 to 2100 m (ice cliff below 👇) and was 11 km² in 2022
See this recent paper to find out how Saharan dust influences its mass balance ❄️🏜️
egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/20...
📷 Sean Gallup/Getty images
July 2024
Argentière Gl. spans 3600 to 2100 m (ice cliff below 👇) and was 11 km² in 2022
See this recent paper to find out how Saharan dust influences its mass balance ❄️🏜️
egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/20...
📷 Sean Gallup/Getty images
December 21, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Spectacular frontal view of Argentière Glacier 🧊🔥
July 2024
Argentière Gl. spans 3600 to 2100 m (ice cliff below 👇) and was 11 km² in 2022
See this recent paper to find out how Saharan dust influences its mass balance ❄️🏜️
egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/20...
📷 Sean Gallup/Getty images
July 2024
Argentière Gl. spans 3600 to 2100 m (ice cliff below 👇) and was 11 km² in 2022
See this recent paper to find out how Saharan dust influences its mass balance ❄️🏜️
egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/20...
📷 Sean Gallup/Getty images
Glaciar Piedras Blancas and Cerro Chaltén
1931 | 2025
Iconic !
📷 De Agostini and Ty Lekki
1931 | 2025
Iconic !
📷 De Agostini and Ty Lekki
December 20, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Glaciar Piedras Blancas and Cerro Chaltén
1931 | 2025
Iconic !
📷 De Agostini and Ty Lekki
1931 | 2025
Iconic !
📷 De Agostini and Ty Lekki
There are 211,500 glaciers on this planet and we'll lose most of them this century because of human emissions! 🧊🔥
The peak of glacier extinction will occur 2040 to 2055! 📈
But each fraction of degree matters! 🌡️
Some of them can be saved! 🙏
@landervt.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The peak of glacier extinction will occur 2040 to 2055! 📈
But each fraction of degree matters! 🌡️
Some of them can be saved! 🙏
@landervt.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
December 18, 2025 at 3:44 PM
There are 211,500 glaciers on this planet and we'll lose most of them this century because of human emissions! 🧊🔥
The peak of glacier extinction will occur 2040 to 2055! 📈
But each fraction of degree matters! 🌡️
Some of them can be saved! 🙏
@landervt.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The peak of glacier extinction will occur 2040 to 2055! 📈
But each fraction of degree matters! 🌡️
Some of them can be saved! 🙏
@landervt.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
December 18, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Spectacular recent photos (12th Dec.) of the landslides that followed Hubbard Gl. M7 earthquake on 6th Dec. 2025 ⚡
Here is mainly depicted Mt King George with dust still rising as debris ran more than 1500 m down towards the glacier 🏔️🧊
Some deposits are over 1 km wide! 😲
📷 Yukon Geological Survey
Here is mainly depicted Mt King George with dust still rising as debris ran more than 1500 m down towards the glacier 🏔️🧊
Some deposits are over 1 km wide! 😲
📷 Yukon Geological Survey
December 18, 2025 at 10:27 AM
Spectacular recent photos (12th Dec.) of the landslides that followed Hubbard Gl. M7 earthquake on 6th Dec. 2025 ⚡
Here is mainly depicted Mt King George with dust still rising as debris ran more than 1500 m down towards the glacier 🏔️🧊
Some deposits are over 1 km wide! 😲
📷 Yukon Geological Survey
Here is mainly depicted Mt King George with dust still rising as debris ran more than 1500 m down towards the glacier 🏔️🧊
Some deposits are over 1 km wide! 😲
📷 Yukon Geological Survey
French glaciers have lost more than 4% of their volume in 2025! 🧊🔥
According to #Glacioclim network (glacioclim.osug.fr), 2025 ranks 3rd most deficient mass balance ever recorded, after 2022 and 2023! 😱
Via @liberation.fr
www.liberation.fr/environnemen...
According to #Glacioclim network (glacioclim.osug.fr), 2025 ranks 3rd most deficient mass balance ever recorded, after 2022 and 2023! 😱
Via @liberation.fr
www.liberation.fr/environnemen...
December 18, 2025 at 9:29 AM
French glaciers have lost more than 4% of their volume in 2025! 🧊🔥
According to #Glacioclim network (glacioclim.osug.fr), 2025 ranks 3rd most deficient mass balance ever recorded, after 2022 and 2023! 😱
Via @liberation.fr
www.liberation.fr/environnemen...
According to #Glacioclim network (glacioclim.osug.fr), 2025 ranks 3rd most deficient mass balance ever recorded, after 2022 and 2023! 😱
Via @liberation.fr
www.liberation.fr/environnemen...
Reposted by Melaine Le Roy
My lab at @univbrest.bsky.social hitting headlines again!
A giant fishweir made of 62 monoliths and measuring 120x20m, has been discovered near Sein island (Brittany).
It's the largest underwater construction in France, and it was built by Mesolithic hunter gatherer 🤯
#PaleoSky #MegalithMonday🏺
A giant fishweir made of 62 monoliths and measuring 120x20m, has been discovered near Sein island (Brittany).
It's the largest underwater construction in France, and it was built by Mesolithic hunter gatherer 🤯
#PaleoSky #MegalithMonday🏺
December 15, 2025 at 9:12 AM
My lab at @univbrest.bsky.social hitting headlines again!
A giant fishweir made of 62 monoliths and measuring 120x20m, has been discovered near Sein island (Brittany).
It's the largest underwater construction in France, and it was built by Mesolithic hunter gatherer 🤯
#PaleoSky #MegalithMonday🏺
A giant fishweir made of 62 monoliths and measuring 120x20m, has been discovered near Sein island (Brittany).
It's the largest underwater construction in France, and it was built by Mesolithic hunter gatherer 🤯
#PaleoSky #MegalithMonday🏺
Subfossil spruce
Bossons Glacier
80-253 CE
Tree buried during an early glacier advance post Roman Warm Period 🧊🌲💍
Repeated phases with compression wood show this tree lived in a dynamic environment (avalanches, landslides?) ❄️💧
#ILoveTreeRings
Bossons Glacier
80-253 CE
Tree buried during an early glacier advance post Roman Warm Period 🧊🌲💍
Repeated phases with compression wood show this tree lived in a dynamic environment (avalanches, landslides?) ❄️💧
#ILoveTreeRings
December 14, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Subfossil spruce
Bossons Glacier
80-253 CE
Tree buried during an early glacier advance post Roman Warm Period 🧊🌲💍
Repeated phases with compression wood show this tree lived in a dynamic environment (avalanches, landslides?) ❄️💧
#ILoveTreeRings
Bossons Glacier
80-253 CE
Tree buried during an early glacier advance post Roman Warm Period 🧊🌲💍
Repeated phases with compression wood show this tree lived in a dynamic environment (avalanches, landslides?) ❄️💧
#ILoveTreeRings
December 13, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Cold War insanity! 😱
In 1965, a plutonium-packed generator disappeared on one of world’s highest mtns - Nanda Devi (7,816 m) - in a U.S. covert mission to spy on China!
It’s likely still buried in a glacier feeding the Ganges - a river that supports ~600 M ppl! 😲
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
In 1965, a plutonium-packed generator disappeared on one of world’s highest mtns - Nanda Devi (7,816 m) - in a U.S. covert mission to spy on China!
It’s likely still buried in a glacier feeding the Ganges - a river that supports ~600 M ppl! 😲
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
How Did the C.I.A. Lose a Nuclear Device in the Himalayas? (Gift Article)
A plutonium-packed generator disappeared on one of the world’s highest mountains in a covert mission that the U.S. will not talk about.
www.nytimes.com
December 13, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Cold War insanity! 😱
In 1965, a plutonium-packed generator disappeared on one of world’s highest mtns - Nanda Devi (7,816 m) - in a U.S. covert mission to spy on China!
It’s likely still buried in a glacier feeding the Ganges - a river that supports ~600 M ppl! 😲
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
In 1965, a plutonium-packed generator disappeared on one of world’s highest mtns - Nanda Devi (7,816 m) - in a U.S. covert mission to spy on China!
It’s likely still buried in a glacier feeding the Ganges - a river that supports ~600 M ppl! 😲
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
A typical Stone Pine (Pinus cembra L.) 'ringscape' 🥰🌲💍
- Narrow latewood
- large resin canals (creating those 'bumps!)
- More complacent growth than larch
We are here ~8,300 years ago above 2,000 m asl in the Alps 🏔️🧊
Average ring width ~0.3 mm 🔬
- Narrow latewood
- large resin canals (creating those 'bumps!)
- More complacent growth than larch
We are here ~8,300 years ago above 2,000 m asl in the Alps 🏔️🧊
Average ring width ~0.3 mm 🔬
December 13, 2025 at 1:01 PM
A typical Stone Pine (Pinus cembra L.) 'ringscape' 🥰🌲💍
- Narrow latewood
- large resin canals (creating those 'bumps!)
- More complacent growth than larch
We are here ~8,300 years ago above 2,000 m asl in the Alps 🏔️🧊
Average ring width ~0.3 mm 🔬
- Narrow latewood
- large resin canals (creating those 'bumps!)
- More complacent growth than larch
We are here ~8,300 years ago above 2,000 m asl in the Alps 🏔️🧊
Average ring width ~0.3 mm 🔬
New study found the largest lahar of the last millennium occurred at Mt Rainier (4.392 m, WA) at the end of the year 1507! 🏔️🌊⌚
Wonderful tree rings... 🥰🌲💍
pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/...
Wonderful tree rings... 🥰🌲💍
pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/...
December 12, 2025 at 11:55 AM
New study found the largest lahar of the last millennium occurred at Mt Rainier (4.392 m, WA) at the end of the year 1507! 🏔️🌊⌚
Wonderful tree rings... 🥰🌲💍
pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/...
Wonderful tree rings... 🥰🌲💍
pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/...
Aiguille du Midi (3842 m)
1957 | 2025
Upper 'Mallory Glacier' (N aspect) and Aig. du Midi from the east!
Remember that we are here “on top” of Alpine glaciers!
Only 5 to 17 metres of ice left here.
In some places, up to 18 metres have melted since 2003 only!
Source/data: Xavier Cailhol 🙏
1957 | 2025
Upper 'Mallory Glacier' (N aspect) and Aig. du Midi from the east!
Remember that we are here “on top” of Alpine glaciers!
Only 5 to 17 metres of ice left here.
In some places, up to 18 metres have melted since 2003 only!
Source/data: Xavier Cailhol 🙏
December 11, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Aiguille du Midi (3842 m)
1957 | 2025
Upper 'Mallory Glacier' (N aspect) and Aig. du Midi from the east!
Remember that we are here “on top” of Alpine glaciers!
Only 5 to 17 metres of ice left here.
In some places, up to 18 metres have melted since 2003 only!
Source/data: Xavier Cailhol 🙏
1957 | 2025
Upper 'Mallory Glacier' (N aspect) and Aig. du Midi from the east!
Remember that we are here “on top” of Alpine glaciers!
Only 5 to 17 metres of ice left here.
In some places, up to 18 metres have melted since 2003 only!
Source/data: Xavier Cailhol 🙏
Last six years before glacier impact! 🧊😱
In the intimacy of this larch tree buried by Tschierva Glacier in 7623 BCE (i.e. ~9650 years ago)! 🌲💍
Note the significant growth reduction five years before the tree death! 🌊
In the intimacy of this larch tree buried by Tschierva Glacier in 7623 BCE (i.e. ~9650 years ago)! 🌲💍
Note the significant growth reduction five years before the tree death! 🌊
December 11, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Last six years before glacier impact! 🧊😱
In the intimacy of this larch tree buried by Tschierva Glacier in 7623 BCE (i.e. ~9650 years ago)! 🌲💍
Note the significant growth reduction five years before the tree death! 🌊
In the intimacy of this larch tree buried by Tschierva Glacier in 7623 BCE (i.e. ~9650 years ago)! 🌲💍
Note the significant growth reduction five years before the tree death! 🌊
Zermatt and a random Alpine peak today at the very dawn! 🏔️🌄
From Milano-Paris commercial flight ✈️
You may feel like it's winter, but what we're seeing here is unworthy of December, and flying is to blame!
Via MeteoValledAosta
From Milano-Paris commercial flight ✈️
You may feel like it's winter, but what we're seeing here is unworthy of December, and flying is to blame!
Via MeteoValledAosta
December 10, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Zermatt and a random Alpine peak today at the very dawn! 🏔️🌄
From Milano-Paris commercial flight ✈️
You may feel like it's winter, but what we're seeing here is unworthy of December, and flying is to blame!
Via MeteoValledAosta
From Milano-Paris commercial flight ✈️
You may feel like it's winter, but what we're seeing here is unworthy of December, and flying is to blame!
Via MeteoValledAosta
Have you ever considered growing a glacier? 🧊
That's what glacier marriages are about! 🌱
To learn more, read the great story written by @glacioverse.bsky.social about this tradition from Baltistan (Pakistan) 🏔️
medium.com/@tirthankarg...
That's what glacier marriages are about! 🌱
To learn more, read the great story written by @glacioverse.bsky.social about this tradition from Baltistan (Pakistan) 🏔️
medium.com/@tirthankarg...
December 10, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Have you ever considered growing a glacier? 🧊
That's what glacier marriages are about! 🌱
To learn more, read the great story written by @glacioverse.bsky.social about this tradition from Baltistan (Pakistan) 🏔️
medium.com/@tirthankarg...
That's what glacier marriages are about! 🌱
To learn more, read the great story written by @glacioverse.bsky.social about this tradition from Baltistan (Pakistan) 🏔️
medium.com/@tirthankarg...