Variations in surface area of six ice aprons in the Mont-Blanc massif since the Little Ice Age
Deglaciation of high mountain rockwalls alters slope stability as rockwalls become more sensitive to modifications in environmental factors (e.g. seasonal temperature variations). In the past decades, increasing efforts focused on studying deglaciated Alpine rockwalls. Yet, currently deglaciating ro...
Published in: | Journal of Glaciology |
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Cambridge University Press
2020
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:d9dd23f554834f9abd5e914ae0773faa 2023-05-15T16:57:33+02:00 Variations in surface area of six ice aprons in the Mont-Blanc massif since the Little Ice Age Grégoire Guillet Ludovic Ravanel 2020-10-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.46 https://doaj.org/article/d9dd23f554834f9abd5e914ae0773faa EN eng Cambridge University Press https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143020000465/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0022-1430 https://doaj.org/toc/1727-5652 doi:10.1017/jog.2020.46 0022-1430 1727-5652 https://doaj.org/article/d9dd23f554834f9abd5e914ae0773faa Journal of Glaciology, Vol 66, Pp 777-789 (2020) Glacier monitoring ice and climate mountain glaciers Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 article 2020 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.46 2023-03-12T01:30:57Z Deglaciation of high mountain rockwalls alters slope stability as rockwalls become more sensitive to modifications in environmental factors (e.g. seasonal temperature variations). In the past decades, increasing efforts focused on studying deglaciated Alpine rockwalls. Yet, currently deglaciating rockfaces remain unstudied. Here, we quantify surface area variations of massive ice bodies lying on high mountain rockwalls (ice aprons) in the French sector of the Mont Blanc massif between the end of the Little Ice Age (LIA) and 2018. Surface area estimates are computed from terrestrial and aerial oblique photographs via photogrammetry. This technique allows using photographs taken without scientific intent, and to tap into diverse historical or recent photographic catalogs. We derive an ice apron surface area model from precipitation records and the positive degree-days. The studied ice aprons shrank from 1854 to the 1950s, before expanding until the end of the 1990s. The beginning of the 21st century shows a decrease in surface area, leading to the complete melt of one of the studied ice aprons in 2017. Observed variations correlate with modeled surface area, suggesting strong sensitivity of ice aprons to changes in climatic variables. By studying site-specific correlations, we explore the importance of local drivers over the balance of ice aprons. Article in Journal/Newspaper Journal of Glaciology Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Mont Blanc ENVELOPE(69.468,69.468,-49.461,-49.461) Journal of Glaciology 66 259 777 789 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Glacier monitoring ice and climate mountain glaciers Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
spellingShingle |
Glacier monitoring ice and climate mountain glaciers Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 Grégoire Guillet Ludovic Ravanel Variations in surface area of six ice aprons in the Mont-Blanc massif since the Little Ice Age |
topic_facet |
Glacier monitoring ice and climate mountain glaciers Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
description |
Deglaciation of high mountain rockwalls alters slope stability as rockwalls become more sensitive to modifications in environmental factors (e.g. seasonal temperature variations). In the past decades, increasing efforts focused on studying deglaciated Alpine rockwalls. Yet, currently deglaciating rockfaces remain unstudied. Here, we quantify surface area variations of massive ice bodies lying on high mountain rockwalls (ice aprons) in the French sector of the Mont Blanc massif between the end of the Little Ice Age (LIA) and 2018. Surface area estimates are computed from terrestrial and aerial oblique photographs via photogrammetry. This technique allows using photographs taken without scientific intent, and to tap into diverse historical or recent photographic catalogs. We derive an ice apron surface area model from precipitation records and the positive degree-days. The studied ice aprons shrank from 1854 to the 1950s, before expanding until the end of the 1990s. The beginning of the 21st century shows a decrease in surface area, leading to the complete melt of one of the studied ice aprons in 2017. Observed variations correlate with modeled surface area, suggesting strong sensitivity of ice aprons to changes in climatic variables. By studying site-specific correlations, we explore the importance of local drivers over the balance of ice aprons. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Grégoire Guillet Ludovic Ravanel |
author_facet |
Grégoire Guillet Ludovic Ravanel |
author_sort |
Grégoire Guillet |
title |
Variations in surface area of six ice aprons in the Mont-Blanc massif since the Little Ice Age |
title_short |
Variations in surface area of six ice aprons in the Mont-Blanc massif since the Little Ice Age |
title_full |
Variations in surface area of six ice aprons in the Mont-Blanc massif since the Little Ice Age |
title_fullStr |
Variations in surface area of six ice aprons in the Mont-Blanc massif since the Little Ice Age |
title_full_unstemmed |
Variations in surface area of six ice aprons in the Mont-Blanc massif since the Little Ice Age |
title_sort |
variations in surface area of six ice aprons in the mont-blanc massif since the little ice age |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.46 https://doaj.org/article/d9dd23f554834f9abd5e914ae0773faa |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(69.468,69.468,-49.461,-49.461) |
geographic |
Mont Blanc |
geographic_facet |
Mont Blanc |
genre |
Journal of Glaciology |
genre_facet |
Journal of Glaciology |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology, Vol 66, Pp 777-789 (2020) |
op_relation |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143020000465/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0022-1430 https://doaj.org/toc/1727-5652 doi:10.1017/jog.2020.46 0022-1430 1727-5652 https://doaj.org/article/d9dd23f554834f9abd5e914ae0773faa |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.46 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_volume |
66 |
container_issue |
259 |
container_start_page |
777 |
op_container_end_page |
789 |
_version_ |
1766049122025996288 |