Seasonally stable temperature gradients through supraglacial debris in the Everest region of Nepal, Central Himalaya
Rock debris covers ~30% of glacier ablation areas in the Central Himalaya and modifies the impact of atmospheric conditions on mass balance. The thermal properties of supraglacial debris are diurnally variable but remain poorly constrained for monsoon-influenced glaciers over the timescale of the ab...
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Cambridge University Press
2021
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/187548/ https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/187548/1/seasonally-stable-temperature-gradients-through-supraglacial-debris-in-the-everest-region-of-nepal-central-himalaya.pdf |
id |
ftleedsuniv:oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:187548 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftleedsuniv:oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:187548 2023-05-15T16:57:39+02:00 Seasonally stable temperature gradients through supraglacial debris in the Everest region of Nepal, Central Himalaya Rowan, AV Nicholson, LI Quincey, DJ Gibson, MJ Irvine-Fynn, TDL Watson, CS Wagnon, P Rounce, DR Thompson, SS Porter, PR Glasser, NF 2021-02 text https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/187548/ https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/187548/1/seasonally-stable-temperature-gradients-through-supraglacial-debris-in-the-everest-region-of-nepal-central-himalaya.pdf en eng Cambridge University Press https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/187548/1/seasonally-stable-temperature-gradients-through-supraglacial-debris-in-the-everest-region-of-nepal-central-himalaya.pdf Rowan, AV, Nicholson, LI, Quincey, DJ orcid.org/0000-0002-7602-7926 et al. (8 more authors) (2021) Seasonally stable temperature gradients through supraglacial debris in the Everest region of Nepal, Central Himalaya. Journal of Glaciology, 67 (261). pp. 170-181. ISSN 0022-1430 cc_by_4 CC-BY Article NonPeerReviewed 2021 ftleedsuniv 2023-01-30T22:47:11Z Rock debris covers ~30% of glacier ablation areas in the Central Himalaya and modifies the impact of atmospheric conditions on mass balance. The thermal properties of supraglacial debris are diurnally variable but remain poorly constrained for monsoon-influenced glaciers over the timescale of the ablation season. We measured vertical debris profile temperatures at 12 sites on four glaciers in the Everest region with debris thickness ranging from 0.08 to 2.8 m. Typically, the length of the ice ablation season beneath supraglacial debris was 160 days (15 May to 22 October)—a month longer than the monsoon season. Debris temperature gradients were approximately linear (r2 > 0.83), measured as −40°C m–1 where debris was up to 0.1 m thick, −20°C m–1 for debris 0.1–0.5 m thick, and −4°C m–1 for debris greater than 0.5 m thick. Our results demonstrate that the influence of supraglacial debris on the temperature of the underlying ice surface, and therefore melt, is stable at a seasonal timescale and can be estimated from near-surface temperature. These results have the potential to greatly improve the representation of ablation in calculations of debris-covered glacier mass balance and projections of their response to climate change. Article in Journal/Newspaper Journal of Glaciology White Rose Research Online (Universities of Leeds, Sheffield & York) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
White Rose Research Online (Universities of Leeds, Sheffield & York) |
op_collection_id |
ftleedsuniv |
language |
English |
description |
Rock debris covers ~30% of glacier ablation areas in the Central Himalaya and modifies the impact of atmospheric conditions on mass balance. The thermal properties of supraglacial debris are diurnally variable but remain poorly constrained for monsoon-influenced glaciers over the timescale of the ablation season. We measured vertical debris profile temperatures at 12 sites on four glaciers in the Everest region with debris thickness ranging from 0.08 to 2.8 m. Typically, the length of the ice ablation season beneath supraglacial debris was 160 days (15 May to 22 October)—a month longer than the monsoon season. Debris temperature gradients were approximately linear (r2 > 0.83), measured as −40°C m–1 where debris was up to 0.1 m thick, −20°C m–1 for debris 0.1–0.5 m thick, and −4°C m–1 for debris greater than 0.5 m thick. Our results demonstrate that the influence of supraglacial debris on the temperature of the underlying ice surface, and therefore melt, is stable at a seasonal timescale and can be estimated from near-surface temperature. These results have the potential to greatly improve the representation of ablation in calculations of debris-covered glacier mass balance and projections of their response to climate change. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Rowan, AV Nicholson, LI Quincey, DJ Gibson, MJ Irvine-Fynn, TDL Watson, CS Wagnon, P Rounce, DR Thompson, SS Porter, PR Glasser, NF |
spellingShingle |
Rowan, AV Nicholson, LI Quincey, DJ Gibson, MJ Irvine-Fynn, TDL Watson, CS Wagnon, P Rounce, DR Thompson, SS Porter, PR Glasser, NF Seasonally stable temperature gradients through supraglacial debris in the Everest region of Nepal, Central Himalaya |
author_facet |
Rowan, AV Nicholson, LI Quincey, DJ Gibson, MJ Irvine-Fynn, TDL Watson, CS Wagnon, P Rounce, DR Thompson, SS Porter, PR Glasser, NF |
author_sort |
Rowan, AV |
title |
Seasonally stable temperature gradients through supraglacial debris in the Everest region of Nepal, Central Himalaya |
title_short |
Seasonally stable temperature gradients through supraglacial debris in the Everest region of Nepal, Central Himalaya |
title_full |
Seasonally stable temperature gradients through supraglacial debris in the Everest region of Nepal, Central Himalaya |
title_fullStr |
Seasonally stable temperature gradients through supraglacial debris in the Everest region of Nepal, Central Himalaya |
title_full_unstemmed |
Seasonally stable temperature gradients through supraglacial debris in the Everest region of Nepal, Central Himalaya |
title_sort |
seasonally stable temperature gradients through supraglacial debris in the everest region of nepal, central himalaya |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/187548/ https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/187548/1/seasonally-stable-temperature-gradients-through-supraglacial-debris-in-the-everest-region-of-nepal-central-himalaya.pdf |
genre |
Journal of Glaciology |
genre_facet |
Journal of Glaciology |
op_relation |
https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/187548/1/seasonally-stable-temperature-gradients-through-supraglacial-debris-in-the-everest-region-of-nepal-central-himalaya.pdf Rowan, AV, Nicholson, LI, Quincey, DJ orcid.org/0000-0002-7602-7926 et al. (8 more authors) (2021) Seasonally stable temperature gradients through supraglacial debris in the Everest region of Nepal, Central Himalaya. Journal of Glaciology, 67 (261). pp. 170-181. ISSN 0022-1430 |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
_version_ |
1766049216073826304 |