Topographic controls on ice flow and recession for Juneau Icefield (Alaska/British Columbia)
Abstract Globally, mountain glaciers and ice caps are losing dramatic volumes of ice. The resultant sea‐level rise is dominated by contributions from Alaska. Plateau icefields may be especially sensitive to climate change due to the non‐linear controls their topography imparts on their response to c...
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crwiley:10.1002/esp.5383 2024-09-15T18:07:32+00:00 Topographic controls on ice flow and recession for Juneau Icefield (Alaska/British Columbia) Davies, Bethan Bendle, Jacob Carrivick, Jonathan McNabb, Robert McNeil, Christopher Pelto, Mauri Campbell, Seth Holt, Tom Ely, Jeremy Markle, Bradley Royal Holloway, University of London 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/esp.5383 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/esp.5383 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/esp.5383 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Earth Surface Processes and Landforms volume 47, issue 9, page 2357-2390 ISSN 0197-9337 1096-9837 journal-article 2022 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.5383 2024-07-04T04:30:57Z Abstract Globally, mountain glaciers and ice caps are losing dramatic volumes of ice. The resultant sea‐level rise is dominated by contributions from Alaska. Plateau icefields may be especially sensitive to climate change due to the non‐linear controls their topography imparts on their response to climate change. However, Alaskan plateau icefields have been subject to little structural glaciological or regional geomorphological assessment, which makes the controls on their present and former mass balance difficult to ascertain. We inventoried 1050 glaciers and 368 lakes in the Juneau Icefield region for the year 2019. We found that 63 glaciers had disappeared since the 2005 inventory, with a reduction in glacier area of 422 km 2 (10.0%). We also present the first structural glaciological and geomorphological map for an entire icefield in Alaska. Glaciological mapping of >20 800 features included crevasses, debris cover, foliation, ogives, medial moraines and, importantly, areas of glacier fragmentation, where glaciers either separated from tributaries via lateral recession ( n = 59), or disconnected within areas of former icefalls ( n = 281). Geomorphological mapping of >10 200 landforms included glacial moraines, glacial lakes, trimlines, flutes and cirques. These landforms were generated by a temperate icefield during the Little Ice Age (LIA) neoglaciation. These data demonstrate that the present‐day outlet glaciers, which have a similar thermal and ice‐flow regime, have undergone largely continuous recession since the LIA. Importantly, disconnections occurring within glaciers can separate accumulation and ablation zones, increasing rates of glacier mass loss. We show that glacier disconnections are widespread across the icefield and should be critically taken into consideration when icefield vulnerability to climate change is considered. Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier glaciers Alaska Wiley Online Library Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 47 9 2357 2390 |
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Open Polar |
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Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract Globally, mountain glaciers and ice caps are losing dramatic volumes of ice. The resultant sea‐level rise is dominated by contributions from Alaska. Plateau icefields may be especially sensitive to climate change due to the non‐linear controls their topography imparts on their response to climate change. However, Alaskan plateau icefields have been subject to little structural glaciological or regional geomorphological assessment, which makes the controls on their present and former mass balance difficult to ascertain. We inventoried 1050 glaciers and 368 lakes in the Juneau Icefield region for the year 2019. We found that 63 glaciers had disappeared since the 2005 inventory, with a reduction in glacier area of 422 km 2 (10.0%). We also present the first structural glaciological and geomorphological map for an entire icefield in Alaska. Glaciological mapping of >20 800 features included crevasses, debris cover, foliation, ogives, medial moraines and, importantly, areas of glacier fragmentation, where glaciers either separated from tributaries via lateral recession ( n = 59), or disconnected within areas of former icefalls ( n = 281). Geomorphological mapping of >10 200 landforms included glacial moraines, glacial lakes, trimlines, flutes and cirques. These landforms were generated by a temperate icefield during the Little Ice Age (LIA) neoglaciation. These data demonstrate that the present‐day outlet glaciers, which have a similar thermal and ice‐flow regime, have undergone largely continuous recession since the LIA. Importantly, disconnections occurring within glaciers can separate accumulation and ablation zones, increasing rates of glacier mass loss. We show that glacier disconnections are widespread across the icefield and should be critically taken into consideration when icefield vulnerability to climate change is considered. |
author2 |
Royal Holloway, University of London |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Davies, Bethan Bendle, Jacob Carrivick, Jonathan McNabb, Robert McNeil, Christopher Pelto, Mauri Campbell, Seth Holt, Tom Ely, Jeremy Markle, Bradley |
spellingShingle |
Davies, Bethan Bendle, Jacob Carrivick, Jonathan McNabb, Robert McNeil, Christopher Pelto, Mauri Campbell, Seth Holt, Tom Ely, Jeremy Markle, Bradley Topographic controls on ice flow and recession for Juneau Icefield (Alaska/British Columbia) |
author_facet |
Davies, Bethan Bendle, Jacob Carrivick, Jonathan McNabb, Robert McNeil, Christopher Pelto, Mauri Campbell, Seth Holt, Tom Ely, Jeremy Markle, Bradley |
author_sort |
Davies, Bethan |
title |
Topographic controls on ice flow and recession for Juneau Icefield (Alaska/British Columbia) |
title_short |
Topographic controls on ice flow and recession for Juneau Icefield (Alaska/British Columbia) |
title_full |
Topographic controls on ice flow and recession for Juneau Icefield (Alaska/British Columbia) |
title_fullStr |
Topographic controls on ice flow and recession for Juneau Icefield (Alaska/British Columbia) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Topographic controls on ice flow and recession for Juneau Icefield (Alaska/British Columbia) |
title_sort |
topographic controls on ice flow and recession for juneau icefield (alaska/british columbia) |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/esp.5383 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/esp.5383 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/esp.5383 |
genre |
glacier glaciers Alaska |
genre_facet |
glacier glaciers Alaska |
op_source |
Earth Surface Processes and Landforms volume 47, issue 9, page 2357-2390 ISSN 0197-9337 1096-9837 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.5383 |
container_title |
Earth Surface Processes and Landforms |
container_volume |
47 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
2357 |
op_container_end_page |
2390 |
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1810444918012772352 |