Isotope hydrological studies of the perennial ice deposit of Saarhalle, Mammuthöhle, Dachstein Mts, Austria

A 5.28 m-long ice core was extracted from a major cave ice body in the Mammuthöhle cave system. The upper ~1.2 m of ice most likely originate from precipitation fallen before the 1960s (based on 2H, 18O) in the ice compared to the potential sources (local precipitation, karst water) and by the characteristically low d-excess values. In addition, the cave ice water line shows a slope coefficient of 8.13. A two-component open-system model (i.e. a depleted component mixed with the freezing water) can adequately explain the measured isotopic compositions of the Saarhalle cave ice.