Brief Communication: Twelve-year cyclic surging episodes at Donjek Glacier in Yukon, Canada

Surge-type glaciers repeat their short active phase and their much longer quiescent phase usually every several decades or longer, but detailed observations of the evolution cycles have been limited to only a few glaciers. Here we report three surging episodes in 1989, 2001, and 2013 at Donjek Glaci...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Cryosphere
Main Authors: T. Abe, M. Furuya, D. Sakakibara
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Copernicus Publications 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1427-2016
https://doaj.org/article/6e6192ed6f644e53a62c041b9c406186
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Summary:Surge-type glaciers repeat their short active phase and their much longer quiescent phase usually every several decades or longer, but detailed observations of the evolution cycles have been limited to only a few glaciers. Here we report three surging episodes in 1989, 2001, and 2013 at Donjek Glacier in the Yukon, Canada, indicating remarkably regular and short repeat cycles of 12 years. The surging area is limited within the ∼ 20 km section from the terminus, originating in an area where the flow width significantly narrows downstream, suggesting a strong control of the valley constriction on the surge dynamics.