The Evolution of the Glacier Surges in the Tuanjie Peak, the Qilian Mountains
Glacier surges (GSs) are a manifestation of glacier instability and one of the most striking phenomena in the mountain cryosphere. Here, we utilize optical images acquired between 1973 and 2021 to map changes in glacier surface velocity and morphology and characterize differences in surface elevatio...
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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2072-4292/14/4/852/ 2023-08-20T04:06:43+02:00 The Evolution of the Glacier Surges in the Tuanjie Peak, the Qilian Mountains Yongpeng Gao Shiyin Liu Miaomiao Qi Xiaojun Yao Yu Zhu Fuming Xie Kunpeng Wu Muhammad Saifullah 2022-02-11 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14040852 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Biogeosciences Remote Sensing https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs14040852 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Remote Sensing; Volume 14; Issue 4; Pages: 852 glacier surges Qilian Mountains thickness change glacier surface velocity surge mechanisms Text 2022 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14040852 2023-08-01T04:08:06Z Glacier surges (GSs) are a manifestation of glacier instability and one of the most striking phenomena in the mountain cryosphere. Here, we utilize optical images acquired between 1973 and 2021 to map changes in glacier surface velocity and morphology and characterize differences in surface elevation using multi-source DEMs in the Tuanjie Peak (TJP), located in the Qilian Mountains (QLMs). These data provide valuable insights into the recent dynamic evolution of glaciers and hint at how they might evolve in the next few years. We identified a confirmed surge-type glacier (STG), three likely STGs, and three possible STGs. Our observations show that TJP GSs are generally long-term, although they are shorter in some cases. During the active phase, all glaciers exhibit thickened reservoir areas and thinned receiving areas, or vice-versa. The ice volume transfer was between 0.11 ± 0.13 × 107 m3 to 5.71 ± 0.69 × 107 m3. Although it was impossible to obtain integrated velocity profiles throughout the glacier surge process due to the limitations of available satellite imagery, our recent observations show that winter velocities were much higher than summer velocities, suggesting an obvious correlation between surge dynamics and glacial hydrology. However, the initiation and termination phase of GSs in this region was slow, which is similar to Svalbard-type STGs. We hypothesize that both thermal and hydrological controls are crucial. Moreover, we suggest that the regional warming trend may potentially increase glacier instability and the possibility of surge occurrence in this region. Text glacier Svalbard MDPI Open Access Publishing Svalbard Remote Sensing 14 4 852 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
MDPI Open Access Publishing |
op_collection_id |
ftmdpi |
language |
English |
topic |
glacier surges Qilian Mountains thickness change glacier surface velocity surge mechanisms |
spellingShingle |
glacier surges Qilian Mountains thickness change glacier surface velocity surge mechanisms Yongpeng Gao Shiyin Liu Miaomiao Qi Xiaojun Yao Yu Zhu Fuming Xie Kunpeng Wu Muhammad Saifullah The Evolution of the Glacier Surges in the Tuanjie Peak, the Qilian Mountains |
topic_facet |
glacier surges Qilian Mountains thickness change glacier surface velocity surge mechanisms |
description |
Glacier surges (GSs) are a manifestation of glacier instability and one of the most striking phenomena in the mountain cryosphere. Here, we utilize optical images acquired between 1973 and 2021 to map changes in glacier surface velocity and morphology and characterize differences in surface elevation using multi-source DEMs in the Tuanjie Peak (TJP), located in the Qilian Mountains (QLMs). These data provide valuable insights into the recent dynamic evolution of glaciers and hint at how they might evolve in the next few years. We identified a confirmed surge-type glacier (STG), three likely STGs, and three possible STGs. Our observations show that TJP GSs are generally long-term, although they are shorter in some cases. During the active phase, all glaciers exhibit thickened reservoir areas and thinned receiving areas, or vice-versa. The ice volume transfer was between 0.11 ± 0.13 × 107 m3 to 5.71 ± 0.69 × 107 m3. Although it was impossible to obtain integrated velocity profiles throughout the glacier surge process due to the limitations of available satellite imagery, our recent observations show that winter velocities were much higher than summer velocities, suggesting an obvious correlation between surge dynamics and glacial hydrology. However, the initiation and termination phase of GSs in this region was slow, which is similar to Svalbard-type STGs. We hypothesize that both thermal and hydrological controls are crucial. Moreover, we suggest that the regional warming trend may potentially increase glacier instability and the possibility of surge occurrence in this region. |
format |
Text |
author |
Yongpeng Gao Shiyin Liu Miaomiao Qi Xiaojun Yao Yu Zhu Fuming Xie Kunpeng Wu Muhammad Saifullah |
author_facet |
Yongpeng Gao Shiyin Liu Miaomiao Qi Xiaojun Yao Yu Zhu Fuming Xie Kunpeng Wu Muhammad Saifullah |
author_sort |
Yongpeng Gao |
title |
The Evolution of the Glacier Surges in the Tuanjie Peak, the Qilian Mountains |
title_short |
The Evolution of the Glacier Surges in the Tuanjie Peak, the Qilian Mountains |
title_full |
The Evolution of the Glacier Surges in the Tuanjie Peak, the Qilian Mountains |
title_fullStr |
The Evolution of the Glacier Surges in the Tuanjie Peak, the Qilian Mountains |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Evolution of the Glacier Surges in the Tuanjie Peak, the Qilian Mountains |
title_sort |
evolution of the glacier surges in the tuanjie peak, the qilian mountains |
publisher |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14040852 |
geographic |
Svalbard |
geographic_facet |
Svalbard |
genre |
glacier Svalbard |
genre_facet |
glacier Svalbard |
op_source |
Remote Sensing; Volume 14; Issue 4; Pages: 852 |
op_relation |
Biogeosciences Remote Sensing https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs14040852 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14040852 |
container_title |
Remote Sensing |
container_volume |
14 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
852 |
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1774718007503749120 |