Stagnation and mass loss on a Himalayan debris-covered glacier: processes, patterns and rates
The ablation areas of debris-covered glaciers typically consist of a complex mosaic of surface features with contrasting processes and rates of mass loss. This greatly complicates glacier response to climate change, and increases the uncertainty of predictive models. In this paper we present a serie...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:fc509d902cb448caad18c6dd130f2c81 2023-05-15T16:57:36+02:00 Stagnation and mass loss on a Himalayan debris-covered glacier: processes, patterns and rates SARAH THOMPSON DOUGLAS I. BENN JORDAN MERTES ADRIAN LUCKMAN 2016-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2016.37 https://doaj.org/article/fc509d902cb448caad18c6dd130f2c81 EN eng Cambridge University Press https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S002214301600037X/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0022-1430 https://doaj.org/toc/1727-5652 doi:10.1017/jog.2016.37 0022-1430 1727-5652 https://doaj.org/article/fc509d902cb448caad18c6dd130f2c81 Journal of Glaciology, Vol 62, Pp 467-485 (2016) debris-covered glaciers glacier hazards glacier mass balance moraine remote sensing Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 article 2016 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2016.37 2023-03-12T01:30:59Z The ablation areas of debris-covered glaciers typically consist of a complex mosaic of surface features with contrasting processes and rates of mass loss. This greatly complicates glacier response to climate change, and increases the uncertainty of predictive models. In this paper we present a series of high-resolution DEMs and repeat lake bathymetric surveys on Ngozumpa Glacier, Nepal, to study processes and patterns of mass loss on a Himalayan debris-covered glacier in unprecedented detail. Most mass loss occurs by melt below supraglacial debris, and melt and calving of ice cliffs (backwasting). Although ice cliffs cover only ~5% of the area of the lower tongue, they account for 40% of the ablation. The surface debris layer is subject to frequent re-distribution by slope processes, resulting in large spatial and temporal differences in debris-layer thickness, enhancing or inhibiting local ablation rates and encouraging continuous topographic inversion. A moraine-dammed lake on the lower glacier tongue (Spillway Lake) underwent a period of rapid expansion from 2001 to 2009, but later experienced a reduction of area and volume as a result of lake level lowering and sediment redistribution. Rapid lake growth will likely resume in the near future, and may eventually become up to 7 km long. Article in Journal/Newspaper Journal of Glaciology Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Dammed Lake ENVELOPE(-68.258,-68.258,68.496,68.496) Rapid Lake ENVELOPE(177.619,177.619,52.064,52.064) Journal of Glaciology 62 233 467 485 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
debris-covered glaciers glacier hazards glacier mass balance moraine remote sensing Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
spellingShingle |
debris-covered glaciers glacier hazards glacier mass balance moraine remote sensing Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 SARAH THOMPSON DOUGLAS I. BENN JORDAN MERTES ADRIAN LUCKMAN Stagnation and mass loss on a Himalayan debris-covered glacier: processes, patterns and rates |
topic_facet |
debris-covered glaciers glacier hazards glacier mass balance moraine remote sensing Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
description |
The ablation areas of debris-covered glaciers typically consist of a complex mosaic of surface features with contrasting processes and rates of mass loss. This greatly complicates glacier response to climate change, and increases the uncertainty of predictive models. In this paper we present a series of high-resolution DEMs and repeat lake bathymetric surveys on Ngozumpa Glacier, Nepal, to study processes and patterns of mass loss on a Himalayan debris-covered glacier in unprecedented detail. Most mass loss occurs by melt below supraglacial debris, and melt and calving of ice cliffs (backwasting). Although ice cliffs cover only ~5% of the area of the lower tongue, they account for 40% of the ablation. The surface debris layer is subject to frequent re-distribution by slope processes, resulting in large spatial and temporal differences in debris-layer thickness, enhancing or inhibiting local ablation rates and encouraging continuous topographic inversion. A moraine-dammed lake on the lower glacier tongue (Spillway Lake) underwent a period of rapid expansion from 2001 to 2009, but later experienced a reduction of area and volume as a result of lake level lowering and sediment redistribution. Rapid lake growth will likely resume in the near future, and may eventually become up to 7 km long. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
SARAH THOMPSON DOUGLAS I. BENN JORDAN MERTES ADRIAN LUCKMAN |
author_facet |
SARAH THOMPSON DOUGLAS I. BENN JORDAN MERTES ADRIAN LUCKMAN |
author_sort |
SARAH THOMPSON |
title |
Stagnation and mass loss on a Himalayan debris-covered glacier: processes, patterns and rates |
title_short |
Stagnation and mass loss on a Himalayan debris-covered glacier: processes, patterns and rates |
title_full |
Stagnation and mass loss on a Himalayan debris-covered glacier: processes, patterns and rates |
title_fullStr |
Stagnation and mass loss on a Himalayan debris-covered glacier: processes, patterns and rates |
title_full_unstemmed |
Stagnation and mass loss on a Himalayan debris-covered glacier: processes, patterns and rates |
title_sort |
stagnation and mass loss on a himalayan debris-covered glacier: processes, patterns and rates |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2016.37 https://doaj.org/article/fc509d902cb448caad18c6dd130f2c81 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-68.258,-68.258,68.496,68.496) ENVELOPE(177.619,177.619,52.064,52.064) |
geographic |
Dammed Lake Rapid Lake |
geographic_facet |
Dammed Lake Rapid Lake |
genre |
Journal of Glaciology |
genre_facet |
Journal of Glaciology |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology, Vol 62, Pp 467-485 (2016) |
op_relation |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S002214301600037X/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0022-1430 https://doaj.org/toc/1727-5652 doi:10.1017/jog.2016.37 0022-1430 1727-5652 https://doaj.org/article/fc509d902cb448caad18c6dd130f2c81 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2016.37 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_volume |
62 |
container_issue |
233 |
container_start_page |
467 |
op_container_end_page |
485 |
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1766049156201185280 |