Terminus change of Kaskawulsh Glacier, Yukon, under a warming climate: retreat, thinning, slowdown and modified proglacial lake geometry
Abstract Links between proglacial lakes and glacier dynamics are poorly understood but are necessary to predict how mountain glaciers will react to a warmer, wetter climate, where such lakes are expected to increase both in number and volume. Here, we examine a long-term (~120 year) record of termin...
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Language: | English |
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2022.114 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143022001149 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/jog.2022.114 2024-06-23T07:53:05+00:00 Terminus change of Kaskawulsh Glacier, Yukon, under a warming climate: retreat, thinning, slowdown and modified proglacial lake geometry Main, Brittany Copland, Luke Smeda, Braden Kochtitzky, Will Samsonov, Sergey Dudley, Jonathan Skidmore, Mark Dow, Christine Van Wychen, Wesley Medrzycka, Dorota Higgs, Eric Mingo, Laurent 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2022.114 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143022001149 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Journal of Glaciology volume 69, issue 276, page 936-952 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 journal-article 2022 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2022.114 2024-05-29T08:09:39Z Abstract Links between proglacial lakes and glacier dynamics are poorly understood but are necessary to predict how mountain glaciers will react to a warmer, wetter climate, where such lakes are expected to increase both in number and volume. Here, we examine a long-term (~120 year) record of terminus retreat, thinning and surface velocities from in-situ and remote sensing observations at the terminus of Kaskawulsh Glacier, Yukon, Canada, and determine the impact of a local proglacial hydrological reorganisation on glacier dynamics. After an initial deceleration during the late 1990s, terminus velocities increased at a rate of 3 m a −2 from 2000–12, while proglacial Slims Lake area increased simultaneously. The rapid drainage of the lake in May 2016 substantially altered the velocity profile, decreasing annual velocities by 48% within 3 km of the terminus between 2015 and 2021, at an average rate of ~ 12.5 m a −2 . A key cause of the rapid drop in glacier motion was a reduction in flotation of the lower part of the glacier terminus after lake drainage. This has important implications for glacier dynamics and provides one of the first assessments of the impacts of a rapid proglacial lake drainage event on local terminus velocities. Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier* Journal of Glaciology Yukon Cambridge University Press Canada Kaskawulsh Glacier ENVELOPE(-139.104,-139.104,60.749,60.749) Yukon Journal of Glaciology 1 17 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract Links between proglacial lakes and glacier dynamics are poorly understood but are necessary to predict how mountain glaciers will react to a warmer, wetter climate, where such lakes are expected to increase both in number and volume. Here, we examine a long-term (~120 year) record of terminus retreat, thinning and surface velocities from in-situ and remote sensing observations at the terminus of Kaskawulsh Glacier, Yukon, Canada, and determine the impact of a local proglacial hydrological reorganisation on glacier dynamics. After an initial deceleration during the late 1990s, terminus velocities increased at a rate of 3 m a −2 from 2000–12, while proglacial Slims Lake area increased simultaneously. The rapid drainage of the lake in May 2016 substantially altered the velocity profile, decreasing annual velocities by 48% within 3 km of the terminus between 2015 and 2021, at an average rate of ~ 12.5 m a −2 . A key cause of the rapid drop in glacier motion was a reduction in flotation of the lower part of the glacier terminus after lake drainage. This has important implications for glacier dynamics and provides one of the first assessments of the impacts of a rapid proglacial lake drainage event on local terminus velocities. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Main, Brittany Copland, Luke Smeda, Braden Kochtitzky, Will Samsonov, Sergey Dudley, Jonathan Skidmore, Mark Dow, Christine Van Wychen, Wesley Medrzycka, Dorota Higgs, Eric Mingo, Laurent |
spellingShingle |
Main, Brittany Copland, Luke Smeda, Braden Kochtitzky, Will Samsonov, Sergey Dudley, Jonathan Skidmore, Mark Dow, Christine Van Wychen, Wesley Medrzycka, Dorota Higgs, Eric Mingo, Laurent Terminus change of Kaskawulsh Glacier, Yukon, under a warming climate: retreat, thinning, slowdown and modified proglacial lake geometry |
author_facet |
Main, Brittany Copland, Luke Smeda, Braden Kochtitzky, Will Samsonov, Sergey Dudley, Jonathan Skidmore, Mark Dow, Christine Van Wychen, Wesley Medrzycka, Dorota Higgs, Eric Mingo, Laurent |
author_sort |
Main, Brittany |
title |
Terminus change of Kaskawulsh Glacier, Yukon, under a warming climate: retreat, thinning, slowdown and modified proglacial lake geometry |
title_short |
Terminus change of Kaskawulsh Glacier, Yukon, under a warming climate: retreat, thinning, slowdown and modified proglacial lake geometry |
title_full |
Terminus change of Kaskawulsh Glacier, Yukon, under a warming climate: retreat, thinning, slowdown and modified proglacial lake geometry |
title_fullStr |
Terminus change of Kaskawulsh Glacier, Yukon, under a warming climate: retreat, thinning, slowdown and modified proglacial lake geometry |
title_full_unstemmed |
Terminus change of Kaskawulsh Glacier, Yukon, under a warming climate: retreat, thinning, slowdown and modified proglacial lake geometry |
title_sort |
terminus change of kaskawulsh glacier, yukon, under a warming climate: retreat, thinning, slowdown and modified proglacial lake geometry |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2022.114 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143022001149 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-139.104,-139.104,60.749,60.749) |
geographic |
Canada Kaskawulsh Glacier Yukon |
geographic_facet |
Canada Kaskawulsh Glacier Yukon |
genre |
glacier* Journal of Glaciology Yukon |
genre_facet |
glacier* Journal of Glaciology Yukon |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology volume 69, issue 276, page 936-952 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2022.114 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_start_page |
1 |
op_container_end_page |
17 |
_version_ |
1802644575183962112 |