Evaluating the contribution of avalanching to the mass balance of Himalayan glaciers
ABSTRACT Avalanching is a prominent source of accumulation on glaciers that have high and steep valley-walls surrounding their accumulation zones. These glaciers are typically characterised by an extensive supraglacial debris cover and a low accumulation area ratio. Despite an abundance of such glac...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/aog.2017.27 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0260305517000271 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/aog.2017.27 2024-06-23T07:45:36+00:00 Evaluating the contribution of avalanching to the mass balance of Himalayan glaciers Laha, Sourav Kumari, Reshama Singh, Sunil Mishra, Aditya Sharma, Tushar Banerjee, Argha Nainwal, Harish Chandra Shankar, R. 2017 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/aog.2017.27 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0260305517000271 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) Annals of Glaciology volume 58, issue 75pt2, page 110-118 ISSN 0260-3055 1727-5644 journal-article 2017 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2017.27 2024-06-12T04:04:00Z ABSTRACT Avalanching is a prominent source of accumulation on glaciers that have high and steep valley-walls surrounding their accumulation zones. These glaciers are typically characterised by an extensive supraglacial debris cover and a low accumulation area ratio. Despite an abundance of such glaciers in the rugged landscapes of the High Himalaya, attempts to quantify the net avalanche contribution to mass balance and its long-term variation are almost missing. We first discuss diagnostic criteria to identify strongly avalanche-fed glaciers. Second, we develop an approximate method to quantify the magnitude of the avalanche accumulation exploiting its expected control on the dynamics of these glaciers. The procedure is based on a simplified flowline model description of the glacier concerned and utilises the known glaciological mass-balance, velocity and surface-elevation profiles of the glacier. We apply the method to three Himalayan glaciers and show that the data on the recent dynamics of these glaciers are consistent with a dominant contribution of avalanches to the total accumulation. As a control experiment, we also simulate another Himalayan glacier where no significant avalanche contribution is expected, and reproduce the recent changes in that glacier without any additional avalanche contribution. Article in Journal/Newspaper Annals of Glaciology Cambridge University Press Annals of Glaciology 58 75pt2 110 118 |
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Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
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crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
ABSTRACT Avalanching is a prominent source of accumulation on glaciers that have high and steep valley-walls surrounding their accumulation zones. These glaciers are typically characterised by an extensive supraglacial debris cover and a low accumulation area ratio. Despite an abundance of such glaciers in the rugged landscapes of the High Himalaya, attempts to quantify the net avalanche contribution to mass balance and its long-term variation are almost missing. We first discuss diagnostic criteria to identify strongly avalanche-fed glaciers. Second, we develop an approximate method to quantify the magnitude of the avalanche accumulation exploiting its expected control on the dynamics of these glaciers. The procedure is based on a simplified flowline model description of the glacier concerned and utilises the known glaciological mass-balance, velocity and surface-elevation profiles of the glacier. We apply the method to three Himalayan glaciers and show that the data on the recent dynamics of these glaciers are consistent with a dominant contribution of avalanches to the total accumulation. As a control experiment, we also simulate another Himalayan glacier where no significant avalanche contribution is expected, and reproduce the recent changes in that glacier without any additional avalanche contribution. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Laha, Sourav Kumari, Reshama Singh, Sunil Mishra, Aditya Sharma, Tushar Banerjee, Argha Nainwal, Harish Chandra Shankar, R. |
spellingShingle |
Laha, Sourav Kumari, Reshama Singh, Sunil Mishra, Aditya Sharma, Tushar Banerjee, Argha Nainwal, Harish Chandra Shankar, R. Evaluating the contribution of avalanching to the mass balance of Himalayan glaciers |
author_facet |
Laha, Sourav Kumari, Reshama Singh, Sunil Mishra, Aditya Sharma, Tushar Banerjee, Argha Nainwal, Harish Chandra Shankar, R. |
author_sort |
Laha, Sourav |
title |
Evaluating the contribution of avalanching to the mass balance of Himalayan glaciers |
title_short |
Evaluating the contribution of avalanching to the mass balance of Himalayan glaciers |
title_full |
Evaluating the contribution of avalanching to the mass balance of Himalayan glaciers |
title_fullStr |
Evaluating the contribution of avalanching to the mass balance of Himalayan glaciers |
title_full_unstemmed |
Evaluating the contribution of avalanching to the mass balance of Himalayan glaciers |
title_sort |
evaluating the contribution of avalanching to the mass balance of himalayan glaciers |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/aog.2017.27 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0260305517000271 |
genre |
Annals of Glaciology |
genre_facet |
Annals of Glaciology |
op_source |
Annals of Glaciology volume 58, issue 75pt2, page 110-118 ISSN 0260-3055 1727-5644 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2017.27 |
container_title |
Annals of Glaciology |
container_volume |
58 |
container_issue |
75pt2 |
container_start_page |
110 |
op_container_end_page |
118 |
_version_ |
1802641397024555008 |