Ablation from calving and surface melt at lake-terminating Bridge Glacier, British Columbia, 1984–2013
Bridge Glacier is a lake-calving glacier in the Coast Mountains of British Columbia and has retreated over 3.55 km since 1972. The majority of this retreat has occurred since 1991. This retreat is substantially greater than what has been inferred from regional climate indices, suggesting that it has...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:ac029a8ae4d246a7a8eeace41cc06e4a 2023-05-15T18:32:30+02:00 Ablation from calving and surface melt at lake-terminating Bridge Glacier, British Columbia, 1984–2013 M. Chernos M. Koppes R. D. Moore 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-87-2016 https://doaj.org/article/ac029a8ae4d246a7a8eeace41cc06e4a EN eng Copernicus Publications http://www.the-cryosphere.net/10/87/2016/tc-10-87-2016.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 1994-0416 1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-10-87-2016 https://doaj.org/article/ac029a8ae4d246a7a8eeace41cc06e4a The Cryosphere, Vol 10, Iss 1, Pp 87-102 (2016) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2016 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-87-2016 2022-12-30T22:47:56Z Bridge Glacier is a lake-calving glacier in the Coast Mountains of British Columbia and has retreated over 3.55 km since 1972. The majority of this retreat has occurred since 1991. This retreat is substantially greater than what has been inferred from regional climate indices, suggesting that it has been driven primarily by calving as the glacier retreated across an overdeepened basin. In order to better understand the primary drivers of ablation, surface melt (below the equilibrium line altitude, ELA) and calving were quantified during the 2013 melt season using a distributed energy balance model (DEBM) and time-lapse imagery. Calving, estimated using areal change, velocity measurements, and assuming flotation were responsible for 23 % of the glacier's ablation below the ELA during the 2013 melt season and were limited by modest flow speeds and a small terminus cross-section. Calving and surface melt estimates from 1984 to 2013 suggest that calving was consistently a smaller contributor of ablation. Although calving was estimated to be responsible for up to 49 % of the glacier's ablation for individual seasons, averaged over multiple summers it accounted between 10 and 25 %. Calving was enhanced primarily by buoyancy and water depths, and fluxes were greatest between 2005 and 2010 as the glacier retreated over the deepest part of Bridge Lake. The recent rapid rate of calving is part of a transient stage in the glacier's retreat and is expected to diminish within 10 years as the terminus recedes into shallower water at the proximal end of the lake. These findings are in line with observations from other lake-calving glacier studies across the globe and suggest a common large-scale pattern in calving-induced retreat in lake-terminating alpine glaciers. Despite enhancing glacial retreat, calving remains a relatively small component of ablation and is expected to decrease in importance in the future. Hence, surface melt remains the primary driver of ablation at Bridge Glacier and thus projections of future retreat ... Article in Journal/Newspaper The Cryosphere Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Ela ENVELOPE(9.642,9.642,63.170,63.170) Bridge Lake ENVELOPE(-112.268,-112.268,63.267,63.267) Bridge Glacier ENVELOPE(-72.078,-72.078,81.852,81.852) The Cryosphere 10 1 87 102 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 M. Chernos M. Koppes R. D. Moore Ablation from calving and surface melt at lake-terminating Bridge Glacier, British Columbia, 1984–2013 |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Bridge Glacier is a lake-calving glacier in the Coast Mountains of British Columbia and has retreated over 3.55 km since 1972. The majority of this retreat has occurred since 1991. This retreat is substantially greater than what has been inferred from regional climate indices, suggesting that it has been driven primarily by calving as the glacier retreated across an overdeepened basin. In order to better understand the primary drivers of ablation, surface melt (below the equilibrium line altitude, ELA) and calving were quantified during the 2013 melt season using a distributed energy balance model (DEBM) and time-lapse imagery. Calving, estimated using areal change, velocity measurements, and assuming flotation were responsible for 23 % of the glacier's ablation below the ELA during the 2013 melt season and were limited by modest flow speeds and a small terminus cross-section. Calving and surface melt estimates from 1984 to 2013 suggest that calving was consistently a smaller contributor of ablation. Although calving was estimated to be responsible for up to 49 % of the glacier's ablation for individual seasons, averaged over multiple summers it accounted between 10 and 25 %. Calving was enhanced primarily by buoyancy and water depths, and fluxes were greatest between 2005 and 2010 as the glacier retreated over the deepest part of Bridge Lake. The recent rapid rate of calving is part of a transient stage in the glacier's retreat and is expected to diminish within 10 years as the terminus recedes into shallower water at the proximal end of the lake. These findings are in line with observations from other lake-calving glacier studies across the globe and suggest a common large-scale pattern in calving-induced retreat in lake-terminating alpine glaciers. Despite enhancing glacial retreat, calving remains a relatively small component of ablation and is expected to decrease in importance in the future. Hence, surface melt remains the primary driver of ablation at Bridge Glacier and thus projections of future retreat ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
M. Chernos M. Koppes R. D. Moore |
author_facet |
M. Chernos M. Koppes R. D. Moore |
author_sort |
M. Chernos |
title |
Ablation from calving and surface melt at lake-terminating Bridge Glacier, British Columbia, 1984–2013 |
title_short |
Ablation from calving and surface melt at lake-terminating Bridge Glacier, British Columbia, 1984–2013 |
title_full |
Ablation from calving and surface melt at lake-terminating Bridge Glacier, British Columbia, 1984–2013 |
title_fullStr |
Ablation from calving and surface melt at lake-terminating Bridge Glacier, British Columbia, 1984–2013 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ablation from calving and surface melt at lake-terminating Bridge Glacier, British Columbia, 1984–2013 |
title_sort |
ablation from calving and surface melt at lake-terminating bridge glacier, british columbia, 1984–2013 |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-87-2016 https://doaj.org/article/ac029a8ae4d246a7a8eeace41cc06e4a |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(9.642,9.642,63.170,63.170) ENVELOPE(-112.268,-112.268,63.267,63.267) ENVELOPE(-72.078,-72.078,81.852,81.852) |
geographic |
Ela Bridge Lake Bridge Glacier |
geographic_facet |
Ela Bridge Lake Bridge Glacier |
genre |
The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 10, Iss 1, Pp 87-102 (2016) |
op_relation |
http://www.the-cryosphere.net/10/87/2016/tc-10-87-2016.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 1994-0416 1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-10-87-2016 https://doaj.org/article/ac029a8ae4d246a7a8eeace41cc06e4a |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-87-2016 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
87 |
op_container_end_page |
102 |
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1766216611303260160 |