Climate sensitivity of glaciers in southern Norway: application of an energy-balance model to Nigardsbreen, Hellstugubreen and Alfotbreen
Abstract Three glaciers in southern Norway, with very different mass-balance characteristics, are studied with an energy-balance model of the ice/snow surface. The model simulates the observed mass-balance profiles in a satisfactory way, and can thus be used with some confidence in a study of climat...
Published in: | Journal of Glaciology |
---|---|
Main Author: | |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
1992
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000003634 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000003634 |
id |
crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0022143000003634 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0022143000003634 2024-04-28T08:20:11+00:00 Climate sensitivity of glaciers in southern Norway: application of an energy-balance model to Nigardsbreen, Hellstugubreen and Alfotbreen Oerlemans, J. 1992 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000003634 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000003634 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) Journal of Glaciology volume 38, issue 129, page 223-232 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 Earth-Surface Processes journal-article 1992 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000003634 2024-04-09T06:54:42Z Abstract Three glaciers in southern Norway, with very different mass-balance characteristics, are studied with an energy-balance model of the ice/snow surface. The model simulates the observed mass-balance profiles in a satisfactory way, and can thus be used with some confidence in a study of climate sensitivity. Calculated changes in equilibrium-line altitude for a 1 K temperature increase are 110, 108 and 135 m for Nigardsbreen, Hellstugubreen and Alfotbreen, respectively. The corresponding changes in mass balance, averaged over the entire glacier area, are −0.88, −0.715 and −1.11 m year −1 (water equivalent). Runs with an ice-flow model for Nigardsbreen, to which calculated mass-balance profiles arc imposed, predict that the front will advance by 3 km for a 1 K cooling, and will retreat by as much as 6.5 km for a 1 K warming. The response to a 10% increase in precipitation would be a 2 km advance of the snout, whereas a 4 km retreat is predicted for a 10% decrease. This large sensitivity (as compared to many other glaciers) is to a large extent due to the geometry of Nigardsbreen. Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier Journal of Glaciology Cambridge University Press Journal of Glaciology 38 129 223 232 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
Earth-Surface Processes |
spellingShingle |
Earth-Surface Processes Oerlemans, J. Climate sensitivity of glaciers in southern Norway: application of an energy-balance model to Nigardsbreen, Hellstugubreen and Alfotbreen |
topic_facet |
Earth-Surface Processes |
description |
Abstract Three glaciers in southern Norway, with very different mass-balance characteristics, are studied with an energy-balance model of the ice/snow surface. The model simulates the observed mass-balance profiles in a satisfactory way, and can thus be used with some confidence in a study of climate sensitivity. Calculated changes in equilibrium-line altitude for a 1 K temperature increase are 110, 108 and 135 m for Nigardsbreen, Hellstugubreen and Alfotbreen, respectively. The corresponding changes in mass balance, averaged over the entire glacier area, are −0.88, −0.715 and −1.11 m year −1 (water equivalent). Runs with an ice-flow model for Nigardsbreen, to which calculated mass-balance profiles arc imposed, predict that the front will advance by 3 km for a 1 K cooling, and will retreat by as much as 6.5 km for a 1 K warming. The response to a 10% increase in precipitation would be a 2 km advance of the snout, whereas a 4 km retreat is predicted for a 10% decrease. This large sensitivity (as compared to many other glaciers) is to a large extent due to the geometry of Nigardsbreen. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Oerlemans, J. |
author_facet |
Oerlemans, J. |
author_sort |
Oerlemans, J. |
title |
Climate sensitivity of glaciers in southern Norway: application of an energy-balance model to Nigardsbreen, Hellstugubreen and Alfotbreen |
title_short |
Climate sensitivity of glaciers in southern Norway: application of an energy-balance model to Nigardsbreen, Hellstugubreen and Alfotbreen |
title_full |
Climate sensitivity of glaciers in southern Norway: application of an energy-balance model to Nigardsbreen, Hellstugubreen and Alfotbreen |
title_fullStr |
Climate sensitivity of glaciers in southern Norway: application of an energy-balance model to Nigardsbreen, Hellstugubreen and Alfotbreen |
title_full_unstemmed |
Climate sensitivity of glaciers in southern Norway: application of an energy-balance model to Nigardsbreen, Hellstugubreen and Alfotbreen |
title_sort |
climate sensitivity of glaciers in southern norway: application of an energy-balance model to nigardsbreen, hellstugubreen and alfotbreen |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
1992 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000003634 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000003634 |
genre |
glacier Journal of Glaciology |
genre_facet |
glacier Journal of Glaciology |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology volume 38, issue 129, page 223-232 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000003634 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_volume |
38 |
container_issue |
129 |
container_start_page |
223 |
op_container_end_page |
232 |
_version_ |
1797583219397230592 |