Reversal of ice motion during the outburst of a glacier-dammed lake on Gornergletscher, Switzerland
During the outburst flood of a glacier-dammed lake on Gornergletscher, Switzerland, in July 2004, the drained lake water triggered anomalous glacier motion. At the onset of the outburst, the ice-flow direction in the vicinity of the lake became closer to the central flowline. When the lake discharge...
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/2115/34783 https://doi.org/10.3189/172756507782202847 |
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fthokunivhus:oai:eprints.lib.hokudai.ac.jp:2115/34783 2023-05-15T16:57:25+02:00 Reversal of ice motion during the outburst of a glacier-dammed lake on Gornergletscher, Switzerland Sugiyama, Shin Bauder, Andreas Weiss, Patrik Funk, Martin http://hdl.handle.net/2115/34783 https://doi.org/10.3189/172756507782202847 eng eng International Glaciological Society http://www.igsoc.org/ http://hdl.handle.net/2115/34783 Journal of Glaciology, 53(181): 172-180 http://dx.doi.org/10.3189/172756507782202847 © 2007 International Glaciological Society 452 article fthokunivhus https://doi.org/10.3189/172756507782202847 2022-11-18T01:01:39Z During the outburst flood of a glacier-dammed lake on Gornergletscher, Switzerland, in July 2004, the drained lake water triggered anomalous glacier motion. At the onset of the outburst, the ice-flow direction in the vicinity of the lake became closer to the central flowline. When the lake discharge magnitude decreased, the flow direction altered such that the ice moved back to the azimuth of the initial motion. At one of the survey points, where the ice flows parallel to the central flowline, the ice accelerated along the pre-event flow direction followed by a 180° backward motion that lasted over 2 days. These observations indicate the impact of the lake outburst on the subglacial and englacial stress conditions; however, the reversal in the flow direction is difficult to explain by drawing on our current understanding of glacier mechanics. The timing and the timescale of the flow-direction changes suggest that the elastic glacier motion and its rebound played a role under the rapidly changing stress conditions, but the Young’s modulus of ice is too large to cause the observed ice motion. Other processes, including basal separation and subglacial sediment deformation, are discussed as possible mechanisms for the reversal of the ice motion. Article in Journal/Newspaper Journal of Glaciology Hokkaido University Collection of Scholarly and Academic Papers (HUSCAP) Dammed Lake ENVELOPE(-68.258,-68.258,68.496,68.496) Journal of Glaciology 53 181 172 180 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Hokkaido University Collection of Scholarly and Academic Papers (HUSCAP) |
op_collection_id |
fthokunivhus |
language |
English |
topic |
452 |
spellingShingle |
452 Sugiyama, Shin Bauder, Andreas Weiss, Patrik Funk, Martin Reversal of ice motion during the outburst of a glacier-dammed lake on Gornergletscher, Switzerland |
topic_facet |
452 |
description |
During the outburst flood of a glacier-dammed lake on Gornergletscher, Switzerland, in July 2004, the drained lake water triggered anomalous glacier motion. At the onset of the outburst, the ice-flow direction in the vicinity of the lake became closer to the central flowline. When the lake discharge magnitude decreased, the flow direction altered such that the ice moved back to the azimuth of the initial motion. At one of the survey points, where the ice flows parallel to the central flowline, the ice accelerated along the pre-event flow direction followed by a 180° backward motion that lasted over 2 days. These observations indicate the impact of the lake outburst on the subglacial and englacial stress conditions; however, the reversal in the flow direction is difficult to explain by drawing on our current understanding of glacier mechanics. The timing and the timescale of the flow-direction changes suggest that the elastic glacier motion and its rebound played a role under the rapidly changing stress conditions, but the Young’s modulus of ice is too large to cause the observed ice motion. Other processes, including basal separation and subglacial sediment deformation, are discussed as possible mechanisms for the reversal of the ice motion. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Sugiyama, Shin Bauder, Andreas Weiss, Patrik Funk, Martin |
author_facet |
Sugiyama, Shin Bauder, Andreas Weiss, Patrik Funk, Martin |
author_sort |
Sugiyama, Shin |
title |
Reversal of ice motion during the outburst of a glacier-dammed lake on Gornergletscher, Switzerland |
title_short |
Reversal of ice motion during the outburst of a glacier-dammed lake on Gornergletscher, Switzerland |
title_full |
Reversal of ice motion during the outburst of a glacier-dammed lake on Gornergletscher, Switzerland |
title_fullStr |
Reversal of ice motion during the outburst of a glacier-dammed lake on Gornergletscher, Switzerland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Reversal of ice motion during the outburst of a glacier-dammed lake on Gornergletscher, Switzerland |
title_sort |
reversal of ice motion during the outburst of a glacier-dammed lake on gornergletscher, switzerland |
publisher |
International Glaciological Society |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/2115/34783 https://doi.org/10.3189/172756507782202847 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-68.258,-68.258,68.496,68.496) |
geographic |
Dammed Lake |
geographic_facet |
Dammed Lake |
genre |
Journal of Glaciology |
genre_facet |
Journal of Glaciology |
op_relation |
http://www.igsoc.org/ http://hdl.handle.net/2115/34783 Journal of Glaciology, 53(181): 172-180 http://dx.doi.org/10.3189/172756507782202847 |
op_rights |
© 2007 International Glaciological Society |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3189/172756507782202847 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_volume |
53 |
container_issue |
181 |
container_start_page |
172 |
op_container_end_page |
180 |
_version_ |
1766048966439337984 |