Climate reconstruction since the Little Ice Age by modelling Koryto glacier, Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia

Based on the field data at Koryto glacier, Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia, we constructed a one-dimensional numerical glacier model which fits the behaviour of the glacier. The analysis of meteorological data from the nearby station suggests that the recent rapid retreat of the glacier since the mid-20...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Glaciology
Main Authors: Yamaguchi, Satoru, Naruse, Renji, Shiraiwa, Takayuki
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: International Glaciological Society
Subjects:
452
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/2115/50875
https://doi.org/10.3189/002214308784409026
Description
Summary:Based on the field data at Koryto glacier, Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia, we constructed a one-dimensional numerical glacier model which fits the behaviour of the glacier. The analysis of meteorological data from the nearby station suggests that the recent rapid retreat of the glacier since the mid-20th century is likely to be due to a decrease in winter precipitation. Using the geographical data of the glacier terminus variations from 1711 to 1930, we reconstructed the fluctuation in the equilibriumline altitude by means of the glacier model.With summer temperatures inferred from tree-ring data, the model suggests that the winter precipitation from the mid-19th to the early 20th century was about 10% less than that at present. This trend is close to consistent with ice-core results from the nearby ice cap in the central Kamchatka Peninsula.