Gulf of Alaska ice-marginal lake area change over the Landsat record and potential physical controls ...

• Main Authors: Field, Hannah R., Armstrong, William H., Huss, Matthias
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: ETH Zurich 2021
• Subjects: glacier; Alaska
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000498482; http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/498482

Lakes in contact with glacier margins can impact glacier evolution as well as the downstream biophysical systems, flood hazard, and water resources. Recent work suggests positive feedbacks between glacier wastage and ice-marginal lake evolution, although precise physical controls are not well understood. Here, we quantify ice-marginal lake area change in understudied northwestern North America from 1984–2018 and investigate climatic, topographic, and glaciological influences on lake area change. We delineate time series of sampled lake perimeters (n=107 lakes) and find that regional lake area has increased 58 % in aggregate, with individual proglacial lakes growing by 1.28 km2 (125 %) and ice-dammed lakes shrinking by 0.04 km2 (−15 %) on average. A statistical investigation of climate reanalysis data suggests that changes in summer temperature and winter precipitation exert minimal direct influence on lake area change. Utilizing existing datasets of observed and modeled glacial characteristics, we find that ... : The Cryosphere, 15 (7) ...