Which glaciers are the largest in the world?
Abstract Glacier monitoring has been internationally coordinated for more than 125 years. Despite this long history, there is no authoritative answer to the popular question: ‘Which glaciers are the largest in the world?’ Here, we present the first systematic assessment of this question and identify...
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2022
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2022.61 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143022000612 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/jog.2022.61 2024-09-30T14:26:07+00:00 Which glaciers are the largest in the world? Windnagel, Ann Hock, Regine Maussion, Fabien Paul, Frank Rastner, Philipp Raup, Bruce Zemp, Michael Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2022.61 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143022000612 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Journal of Glaciology volume 69, issue 274, page 301-310 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 journal-article 2022 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2022.61 2024-09-04T04:04:39Z Abstract Glacier monitoring has been internationally coordinated for more than 125 years. Despite this long history, there is no authoritative answer to the popular question: ‘Which glaciers are the largest in the world?’ Here, we present the first systematic assessment of this question and identify the largest glaciers in the world – distinct from the two ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica but including the glaciers on the Antarctic Peninsula. We identify the largest glaciers in two domains: on each of the seven geographical continents and in the 19 first-order glacier regions defined by the Global Terrestrial Network for Glaciers. Ranking glaciers by area is non-trivial. It depends on how a glacier is defined and mapped and also requires differentiating between a glacier and a glacier complex, i.e. glaciers that meet at ice divides such as ice caps and icefields. It also depends on the availability of a homogenized global glacier inventory. Using separate rankings for glaciers and glacier complexes, we find that the largest glacier complexes have areas on the order of tens of thousands of square kilometers whereas the largest glaciers are several thousands of square kilometers. The world's largest glaciers and glacier complexes are located in the Antarctic, Arctic and Patagonia. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Arctic glacier Greenland Journal of Glaciology Cambridge University Press Arctic Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Patagonia Greenland Journal of Glaciology 1 10 |
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Cambridge University Press |
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English |
description |
Abstract Glacier monitoring has been internationally coordinated for more than 125 years. Despite this long history, there is no authoritative answer to the popular question: ‘Which glaciers are the largest in the world?’ Here, we present the first systematic assessment of this question and identify the largest glaciers in the world – distinct from the two ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica but including the glaciers on the Antarctic Peninsula. We identify the largest glaciers in two domains: on each of the seven geographical continents and in the 19 first-order glacier regions defined by the Global Terrestrial Network for Glaciers. Ranking glaciers by area is non-trivial. It depends on how a glacier is defined and mapped and also requires differentiating between a glacier and a glacier complex, i.e. glaciers that meet at ice divides such as ice caps and icefields. It also depends on the availability of a homogenized global glacier inventory. Using separate rankings for glaciers and glacier complexes, we find that the largest glacier complexes have areas on the order of tens of thousands of square kilometers whereas the largest glaciers are several thousands of square kilometers. The world's largest glaciers and glacier complexes are located in the Antarctic, Arctic and Patagonia. |
author2 |
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Windnagel, Ann Hock, Regine Maussion, Fabien Paul, Frank Rastner, Philipp Raup, Bruce Zemp, Michael |
spellingShingle |
Windnagel, Ann Hock, Regine Maussion, Fabien Paul, Frank Rastner, Philipp Raup, Bruce Zemp, Michael Which glaciers are the largest in the world? |
author_facet |
Windnagel, Ann Hock, Regine Maussion, Fabien Paul, Frank Rastner, Philipp Raup, Bruce Zemp, Michael |
author_sort |
Windnagel, Ann |
title |
Which glaciers are the largest in the world? |
title_short |
Which glaciers are the largest in the world? |
title_full |
Which glaciers are the largest in the world? |
title_fullStr |
Which glaciers are the largest in the world? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Which glaciers are the largest in the world? |
title_sort |
which glaciers are the largest in the world? |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2022.61 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143022000612 |
geographic |
Arctic Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Patagonia Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Patagonia Greenland |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Arctic glacier Greenland Journal of Glaciology |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Arctic glacier Greenland Journal of Glaciology |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology volume 69, issue 274, page 301-310 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2022.61 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_start_page |
1 |
op_container_end_page |
10 |
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1811646602192879616 |