Kinematics of the exceptionally-short surge cycles of Sít’ Kusá (Turner Glacier), Alaska, from 1983 to 2013
Glacier surges are periodic episodes of mass redistribution characterized by dramatic increases in ice flow velocity and, sometimes, terminus advance. We use optical satellite imagery to document five previously unexamined surge events of Sít’ Kusá (Turner Glacier) in the St. Elias Mountains of Alas...
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Cambridge University Press
2021
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:e0fc42a5944441efacb819c6a75235cc 2023-05-15T16:20:20+02:00 Kinematics of the exceptionally-short surge cycles of Sít’ Kusá (Turner Glacier), Alaska, from 1983 to 2013 Andrew Nolan William Kochtitzky Ellyn M. Enderlin Robert McNabb Karl J. Kreutz 2021-08-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2021.29 https://doaj.org/article/e0fc42a5944441efacb819c6a75235cc EN eng Cambridge University Press https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143021000290/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0022-1430 https://doaj.org/toc/1727-5652 doi:10.1017/jog.2021.29 0022-1430 1727-5652 https://doaj.org/article/e0fc42a5944441efacb819c6a75235cc Journal of Glaciology, Vol 67, Pp 744-758 (2021) Glacier surges glacier hazards remote sensing Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2021.29 2023-03-12T01:30:57Z Glacier surges are periodic episodes of mass redistribution characterized by dramatic increases in ice flow velocity and, sometimes, terminus advance. We use optical satellite imagery to document five previously unexamined surge events of Sít’ Kusá (Turner Glacier) in the St. Elias Mountains of Alaska from 1983 to 2013. Surge events had an average recurrence interval of ~5 years, making it the shortest known regular recurrence interval in the world. Surge events appear to initiate in the winter, with speeds reaching up to ~25 m d−1. The surges propagate down-glacier over ~2 years, resulting in maximum thinning of ~100 m in the reservoir zone and comparable thickening at the terminus. Collectively, the rapid recurrence interval, winter initiation and down-glacier propagation suggest Sít’ Kusá's surges are driven by periodic changes in subglacial hydrology and glacier sliding. Elevation change observations from the northern tributary show a kinematic disconnect above and below an icefall located 23 km from the terminus. We suggest the kinematic disconnect inhibits drawdown from the accumulation zone above the icefall, which leads to a steady flux of ice into the reservoir zone, and contributes to the glacier's exceptionally short recurrence interval. Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier Journal of Glaciology Alaska Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Turner Glacier ENVELOPE(-65.228,-65.228,66.687,66.687) Journal of Glaciology 67 264 744 758 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Glacier surges glacier hazards remote sensing Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
spellingShingle |
Glacier surges glacier hazards remote sensing Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 Andrew Nolan William Kochtitzky Ellyn M. Enderlin Robert McNabb Karl J. Kreutz Kinematics of the exceptionally-short surge cycles of Sít’ Kusá (Turner Glacier), Alaska, from 1983 to 2013 |
topic_facet |
Glacier surges glacier hazards remote sensing Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
description |
Glacier surges are periodic episodes of mass redistribution characterized by dramatic increases in ice flow velocity and, sometimes, terminus advance. We use optical satellite imagery to document five previously unexamined surge events of Sít’ Kusá (Turner Glacier) in the St. Elias Mountains of Alaska from 1983 to 2013. Surge events had an average recurrence interval of ~5 years, making it the shortest known regular recurrence interval in the world. Surge events appear to initiate in the winter, with speeds reaching up to ~25 m d−1. The surges propagate down-glacier over ~2 years, resulting in maximum thinning of ~100 m in the reservoir zone and comparable thickening at the terminus. Collectively, the rapid recurrence interval, winter initiation and down-glacier propagation suggest Sít’ Kusá's surges are driven by periodic changes in subglacial hydrology and glacier sliding. Elevation change observations from the northern tributary show a kinematic disconnect above and below an icefall located 23 km from the terminus. We suggest the kinematic disconnect inhibits drawdown from the accumulation zone above the icefall, which leads to a steady flux of ice into the reservoir zone, and contributes to the glacier's exceptionally short recurrence interval. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Andrew Nolan William Kochtitzky Ellyn M. Enderlin Robert McNabb Karl J. Kreutz |
author_facet |
Andrew Nolan William Kochtitzky Ellyn M. Enderlin Robert McNabb Karl J. Kreutz |
author_sort |
Andrew Nolan |
title |
Kinematics of the exceptionally-short surge cycles of Sít’ Kusá (Turner Glacier), Alaska, from 1983 to 2013 |
title_short |
Kinematics of the exceptionally-short surge cycles of Sít’ Kusá (Turner Glacier), Alaska, from 1983 to 2013 |
title_full |
Kinematics of the exceptionally-short surge cycles of Sít’ Kusá (Turner Glacier), Alaska, from 1983 to 2013 |
title_fullStr |
Kinematics of the exceptionally-short surge cycles of Sít’ Kusá (Turner Glacier), Alaska, from 1983 to 2013 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Kinematics of the exceptionally-short surge cycles of Sít’ Kusá (Turner Glacier), Alaska, from 1983 to 2013 |
title_sort |
kinematics of the exceptionally-short surge cycles of sít’ kusá (turner glacier), alaska, from 1983 to 2013 |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2021.29 https://doaj.org/article/e0fc42a5944441efacb819c6a75235cc |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-65.228,-65.228,66.687,66.687) |
geographic |
Turner Glacier |
geographic_facet |
Turner Glacier |
genre |
glacier Journal of Glaciology Alaska |
genre_facet |
glacier Journal of Glaciology Alaska |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology, Vol 67, Pp 744-758 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143021000290/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0022-1430 https://doaj.org/toc/1727-5652 doi:10.1017/jog.2021.29 0022-1430 1727-5652 https://doaj.org/article/e0fc42a5944441efacb819c6a75235cc |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2021.29 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_volume |
67 |
container_issue |
264 |
container_start_page |
744 |
op_container_end_page |
758 |
_version_ |
1766008234789830656 |