The current disequilibrium of North Cascade glaciers
Abstract Three lines of evidence indicate that North Cascade (Washington, USA) glaciers are currently in a state of disequilibrium. First, annual balance measured on nine glaciers yields a mean cumulative balance for the 1984–2004 period of −8·58 m water equivalent (w.e.), a net loss of ice thicknes...
Published in: | Hydrological Processes |
---|---|
Main Author: | |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Wiley
2006
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hyp.6132 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fhyp.6132 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/hyp.6132 |
id |
crwiley:10.1002/hyp.6132 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crwiley:10.1002/hyp.6132 2024-06-02T08:10:08+00:00 The current disequilibrium of North Cascade glaciers Pelto, Mauri S. 2006 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hyp.6132 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fhyp.6132 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/hyp.6132 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Hydrological Processes volume 20, issue 4, page 769-779 ISSN 0885-6087 1099-1085 journal-article 2006 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.6132 2024-05-03T11:37:19Z Abstract Three lines of evidence indicate that North Cascade (Washington, USA) glaciers are currently in a state of disequilibrium. First, annual balance measured on nine glaciers yields a mean cumulative balance for the 1984–2004 period of −8·58 m water equivalent (w.e.), a net loss of ice thickness exceeding 9·5 m. This is a significant loss for glaciers that average 30–50 m in thickness, representing 18–32% of their entire volume. Second, longitudinal profiles completed in 1984 and 2002 on 12 North Cascade glaciers confirm this volume change indicating a loss of −5·7 to −6·3 m in thickness (5·0–5·6 m w.e.) between 1984 and 2002, agreeing well with the measured cumulative balance of −5·52 m w.e. for the same period. The change in thickness on several glaciers has been equally substantial in the accumulation zone and the ablation zone, indicating that there is no point to which the glacier can retreat to achieve equilibrium. Substantial thinning along the entire length of a glacier is the key indicator that a glacier is in disequilibrium. Third, North Cascade glacier retreat is rapid and ubiquitous. All 47 glaciers monitored are currently undergoing significant retreat or, in the case of four, have disappeared. Two of the glaciers where mass balance observations were begun, Spider Glacier and Lewis Glacier, have disappeared. The retreat since 1984 of eight Mount Baker glaciers that were all advancing in 1975 has averaged 297 m. These observations indicate broad regional continuity in glacial response to climate. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Article in Journal/Newspaper Lewis Glacier Wiley Online Library Cascade Glacier ENVELOPE(-140.504,-140.504,60.249,60.249) Mount Baker ENVELOPE(169.250,169.250,-72.767,-72.767) Hydrological Processes 20 4 769 779 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Wiley Online Library |
op_collection_id |
crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract Three lines of evidence indicate that North Cascade (Washington, USA) glaciers are currently in a state of disequilibrium. First, annual balance measured on nine glaciers yields a mean cumulative balance for the 1984–2004 period of −8·58 m water equivalent (w.e.), a net loss of ice thickness exceeding 9·5 m. This is a significant loss for glaciers that average 30–50 m in thickness, representing 18–32% of their entire volume. Second, longitudinal profiles completed in 1984 and 2002 on 12 North Cascade glaciers confirm this volume change indicating a loss of −5·7 to −6·3 m in thickness (5·0–5·6 m w.e.) between 1984 and 2002, agreeing well with the measured cumulative balance of −5·52 m w.e. for the same period. The change in thickness on several glaciers has been equally substantial in the accumulation zone and the ablation zone, indicating that there is no point to which the glacier can retreat to achieve equilibrium. Substantial thinning along the entire length of a glacier is the key indicator that a glacier is in disequilibrium. Third, North Cascade glacier retreat is rapid and ubiquitous. All 47 glaciers monitored are currently undergoing significant retreat or, in the case of four, have disappeared. Two of the glaciers where mass balance observations were begun, Spider Glacier and Lewis Glacier, have disappeared. The retreat since 1984 of eight Mount Baker glaciers that were all advancing in 1975 has averaged 297 m. These observations indicate broad regional continuity in glacial response to climate. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Pelto, Mauri S. |
spellingShingle |
Pelto, Mauri S. The current disequilibrium of North Cascade glaciers |
author_facet |
Pelto, Mauri S. |
author_sort |
Pelto, Mauri S. |
title |
The current disequilibrium of North Cascade glaciers |
title_short |
The current disequilibrium of North Cascade glaciers |
title_full |
The current disequilibrium of North Cascade glaciers |
title_fullStr |
The current disequilibrium of North Cascade glaciers |
title_full_unstemmed |
The current disequilibrium of North Cascade glaciers |
title_sort |
current disequilibrium of north cascade glaciers |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2006 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hyp.6132 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fhyp.6132 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/hyp.6132 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-140.504,-140.504,60.249,60.249) ENVELOPE(169.250,169.250,-72.767,-72.767) |
geographic |
Cascade Glacier Mount Baker |
geographic_facet |
Cascade Glacier Mount Baker |
genre |
Lewis Glacier |
genre_facet |
Lewis Glacier |
op_source |
Hydrological Processes volume 20, issue 4, page 769-779 ISSN 0885-6087 1099-1085 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.6132 |
container_title |
Hydrological Processes |
container_volume |
20 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
769 |
op_container_end_page |
779 |
_version_ |
1800755953207869440 |