Mechanisms leading to the 2016 giant twin glacier collapses, Aru Range, Tibet
International audience In north-western Tibet (34.0° N, 82.2° E) near lake Aru Co, the entire ablation areas of two glaciers (Aru-1 and Aru-2) suddenly collapsed on 17 July and 21 September 2016. The masses transformed into ice avalanches with volumes of 68 and 83×10 6 m 3 and ran out up to 7 km in...
Published in: | The Cryosphere |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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HAL CCSD
2018
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Online Access: | https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03668272 https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03668272/document https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03668272/file/tc-12-2883-2018.pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2883-2018 |
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Météo-France: HAL |
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[SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] |
spellingShingle |
[SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] Gilbert, Adrien Leinss, Silvan Kargel, Jeffrey Kääb, Andreas Gascoin, Simon Leonard, Gregory Berthier, Etienne Karki, Alina Yao, Tandong Mechanisms leading to the 2016 giant twin glacier collapses, Aru Range, Tibet |
topic_facet |
[SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] |
description |
International audience In north-western Tibet (34.0° N, 82.2° E) near lake Aru Co, the entire ablation areas of two glaciers (Aru-1 and Aru-2) suddenly collapsed on 17 July and 21 September 2016. The masses transformed into ice avalanches with volumes of 68 and 83×10 6 m 3 and ran out up to 7 km in horizontal distance, killing nine people. The only similar event currently documented is the 130×10 6 m 3 Kolka Glacier rock and ice avalanche of 2002 (Caucasus Mountains). Using climatic reanalysis, remote sensing, and three-dimensional thermo-mechanical modelling, we reconstructed the Aru glaciers' thermal regimes, thicknesses, velocities, basal shear stresses, and ice damage prior to the collapse in detail. Thereby, we highlight the potential of using emergence velocities to constrain basal friction in mountain glacier models. We show that the frictional change leading to the Aru collapses occurred in the temperate areas of the polythermal glaciers and is not related to a rapid thawing of cold-based ice. The two glaciers experienced a similar stress transfer from predominant basal drag towards predominant lateral shearing in the detachment areas and during the 5-6 years before the collapses. A high-friction patch is found under the Aru-2 glacier tongue, but not under the Aru-1 glacier. This difference led to disparate behaviour of both glaciers, making the development of the instability more visible for the Aru-1 glacier through enhanced crevassing and terminus advance over a longer period. In comparison, these signs were observable only over a few days to weeks (crevasses) or were absent (advance) for the Aru-2 glacier. Field investigations reveal that those two glaciers were underlain by soft, highly erodible, and fine-grained sedimentary lithologies. We propose that the specific bedrock lithology played a key role in the two Tibet and the Caucasus Mountains giant glacier collapses documented to date by producing low bed roughness and large amounts of till, rich in clay and silt with a low friction angle. The ... |
author2 |
Centre d'études spatiales de la biosphère (CESBIO) Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3) Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP) Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Météo-France -Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE) Laboratoire d'études en Géophysique et océanographie spatiales (LEGOS) Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Météo-France -Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Gilbert, Adrien Leinss, Silvan Kargel, Jeffrey Kääb, Andreas Gascoin, Simon Leonard, Gregory Berthier, Etienne Karki, Alina Yao, Tandong |
author_facet |
Gilbert, Adrien Leinss, Silvan Kargel, Jeffrey Kääb, Andreas Gascoin, Simon Leonard, Gregory Berthier, Etienne Karki, Alina Yao, Tandong |
author_sort |
Gilbert, Adrien |
title |
Mechanisms leading to the 2016 giant twin glacier collapses, Aru Range, Tibet |
title_short |
Mechanisms leading to the 2016 giant twin glacier collapses, Aru Range, Tibet |
title_full |
Mechanisms leading to the 2016 giant twin glacier collapses, Aru Range, Tibet |
title_fullStr |
Mechanisms leading to the 2016 giant twin glacier collapses, Aru Range, Tibet |
title_full_unstemmed |
Mechanisms leading to the 2016 giant twin glacier collapses, Aru Range, Tibet |
title_sort |
mechanisms leading to the 2016 giant twin glacier collapses, aru range, tibet |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03668272 https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03668272/document https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03668272/file/tc-12-2883-2018.pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2883-2018 |
genre |
The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03668272 The Cryosphere, 2018, 12, pp.2883-2900. ⟨10.5194/tc-12-2883-2018⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.5194/tc-12-2883-2018 insu-03668272 https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03668272 https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03668272/document https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03668272/file/tc-12-2883-2018.pdf BIBCODE: 2018TCry.12.2883G doi:10.5194/tc-12-2883-2018 |
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http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2883-2018 |
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The Cryosphere |
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12 |
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9 |
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2883 |
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ftmeteofrance:oai:HAL:insu-03668272v1 2023-05-15T18:32:13+02:00 Mechanisms leading to the 2016 giant twin glacier collapses, Aru Range, Tibet Gilbert, Adrien Leinss, Silvan Kargel, Jeffrey Kääb, Andreas Gascoin, Simon Leonard, Gregory Berthier, Etienne Karki, Alina Yao, Tandong Centre d'études spatiales de la biosphère (CESBIO) Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3) Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP) Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Météo-France -Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE) Laboratoire d'études en Géophysique et océanographie spatiales (LEGOS) Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Météo-France -Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) 2018 https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03668272 https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03668272/document https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03668272/file/tc-12-2883-2018.pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2883-2018 en eng HAL CCSD info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.5194/tc-12-2883-2018 insu-03668272 https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03668272 https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03668272/document https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03668272/file/tc-12-2883-2018.pdf BIBCODE: 2018TCry.12.2883G doi:10.5194/tc-12-2883-2018 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess The Cryosphere https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03668272 The Cryosphere, 2018, 12, pp.2883-2900. ⟨10.5194/tc-12-2883-2018⟩ [SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2018 ftmeteofrance https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2883-2018 2022-09-16T08:17:42Z International audience In north-western Tibet (34.0° N, 82.2° E) near lake Aru Co, the entire ablation areas of two glaciers (Aru-1 and Aru-2) suddenly collapsed on 17 July and 21 September 2016. The masses transformed into ice avalanches with volumes of 68 and 83×10 6 m 3 and ran out up to 7 km in horizontal distance, killing nine people. The only similar event currently documented is the 130×10 6 m 3 Kolka Glacier rock and ice avalanche of 2002 (Caucasus Mountains). Using climatic reanalysis, remote sensing, and three-dimensional thermo-mechanical modelling, we reconstructed the Aru glaciers' thermal regimes, thicknesses, velocities, basal shear stresses, and ice damage prior to the collapse in detail. Thereby, we highlight the potential of using emergence velocities to constrain basal friction in mountain glacier models. We show that the frictional change leading to the Aru collapses occurred in the temperate areas of the polythermal glaciers and is not related to a rapid thawing of cold-based ice. The two glaciers experienced a similar stress transfer from predominant basal drag towards predominant lateral shearing in the detachment areas and during the 5-6 years before the collapses. A high-friction patch is found under the Aru-2 glacier tongue, but not under the Aru-1 glacier. This difference led to disparate behaviour of both glaciers, making the development of the instability more visible for the Aru-1 glacier through enhanced crevassing and terminus advance over a longer period. In comparison, these signs were observable only over a few days to weeks (crevasses) or were absent (advance) for the Aru-2 glacier. Field investigations reveal that those two glaciers were underlain by soft, highly erodible, and fine-grained sedimentary lithologies. We propose that the specific bedrock lithology played a key role in the two Tibet and the Caucasus Mountains giant glacier collapses documented to date by producing low bed roughness and large amounts of till, rich in clay and silt with a low friction angle. The ... Article in Journal/Newspaper The Cryosphere Météo-France: HAL The Cryosphere 12 9 2883 2900 |