Glacial and periglacial catchments are critical systems for water supply in the mountain regions of the world. Current climatic changes strongly impact their hydrological response and recent studies have also highlighted enhanced release of pollutants from these areas. Understanding changes in hydrological response, drainage system and pollutant release in environments characterized by glacier retreat, snow cover depletion and permafrost thawing is fundamental to assess the impacts of the observed and projected atmospheric warming. Tracing water flow pathways, understanding their spatial and temporal variability, quantifying the fluxes and transit times, and assessing the origin of water and solutes represent a challenge for hydrological and cryospheric studies.

In this session we invite catchment hydrologists and cryospheric scientists who focus on:
- runoff generation processes in glacial and periglacial catchments;
- water storage dynamics on glaciers and rock glaciers;
- application and development of techniques for tracing water flow paths (e.g., natural and artificial tracers, dye-tracer experiments, geophysical methods) in these environments;
- monitoring and modelling of water and solutes (including pollutants such as heavy metals) release due to glacier retreat and permafrost thawing.