Interannual climate variability helps define the mean state of glaciers
ABSTRACT Changes in glacier length and extent are indicators of contemporary and archives of past climate changes, but this common climate proxy presents a challenge for inferring a climate signal. Modeling studies suggest that length fluctuations can occur due to interannual climate variability wit...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2019.28 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143019000285 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/jog.2019.28 2024-06-23T07:54:15+00:00 Interannual climate variability helps define the mean state of glaciers MALONE, ANDREW G.O. DOUGHTY, ALICE M. MACAYEAL, DOUGLAS R. 2019 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2019.28 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143019000285 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Journal of Glaciology volume 65, issue 251, page 508-517 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 journal-article 2019 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2019.28 2024-06-12T04:03:25Z ABSTRACT Changes in glacier length and extent are indicators of contemporary and archives of past climate changes, but this common climate proxy presents a challenge for inferring a climate signal. Modeling studies suggest that length fluctuations can occur due to interannual climate variability within an unchanging mean climate and that changes in interannual climate variability can also drive changes in average length. This paper quantifies the impacts of interannual climate variability on average glacier length and mass balance, using a flowline model coupled to a simplified mass-balance model. Results illustrate that changes in the magnitude of interannual temperature variability can non-linearly affect the mean glacier length through a mass-balance asymmetry between warm and cold years. This asymmetry is present in models where melt only initiates after a temperature threshold is crossed. Glaciers susceptible to this asymmetry can be identified based on the shape of their mass-balance profiles. The presence of mass-balance asymmetries in glaciological databases is evaluated, but current records are too short for high statistical resolving power. While the asymmetry in this study can affect the average length and mass-balance, its impacts are small, and paleoclimate interpretations from glacier-length changes are likely not notably influenced by this process. Article in Journal/Newspaper Journal of Glaciology Cambridge University Press Journal of Glaciology 65 251 508 517 |
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Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
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crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
ABSTRACT Changes in glacier length and extent are indicators of contemporary and archives of past climate changes, but this common climate proxy presents a challenge for inferring a climate signal. Modeling studies suggest that length fluctuations can occur due to interannual climate variability within an unchanging mean climate and that changes in interannual climate variability can also drive changes in average length. This paper quantifies the impacts of interannual climate variability on average glacier length and mass balance, using a flowline model coupled to a simplified mass-balance model. Results illustrate that changes in the magnitude of interannual temperature variability can non-linearly affect the mean glacier length through a mass-balance asymmetry between warm and cold years. This asymmetry is present in models where melt only initiates after a temperature threshold is crossed. Glaciers susceptible to this asymmetry can be identified based on the shape of their mass-balance profiles. The presence of mass-balance asymmetries in glaciological databases is evaluated, but current records are too short for high statistical resolving power. While the asymmetry in this study can affect the average length and mass-balance, its impacts are small, and paleoclimate interpretations from glacier-length changes are likely not notably influenced by this process. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
MALONE, ANDREW G.O. DOUGHTY, ALICE M. MACAYEAL, DOUGLAS R. |
spellingShingle |
MALONE, ANDREW G.O. DOUGHTY, ALICE M. MACAYEAL, DOUGLAS R. Interannual climate variability helps define the mean state of glaciers |
author_facet |
MALONE, ANDREW G.O. DOUGHTY, ALICE M. MACAYEAL, DOUGLAS R. |
author_sort |
MALONE, ANDREW G.O. |
title |
Interannual climate variability helps define the mean state of glaciers |
title_short |
Interannual climate variability helps define the mean state of glaciers |
title_full |
Interannual climate variability helps define the mean state of glaciers |
title_fullStr |
Interannual climate variability helps define the mean state of glaciers |
title_full_unstemmed |
Interannual climate variability helps define the mean state of glaciers |
title_sort |
interannual climate variability helps define the mean state of glaciers |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2019.28 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143019000285 |
genre |
Journal of Glaciology |
genre_facet |
Journal of Glaciology |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology volume 65, issue 251, page 508-517 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2019.28 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_volume |
65 |
container_issue |
251 |
container_start_page |
508 |
op_container_end_page |
517 |
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1802646335433736192 |