Ice Aprons in the Mont Blanc Massif (Western European Alps): Topographic Characteristics and Relations with Glaciers and Other Types of Perennial Surface Ice Features
Ice aprons are poorly studied and not well-defined thin ice bodies adhering to high altitude steep rock faces, but are present in most Alpine-type high mountain environments worldwide. This study aims to precisely define ice aprons based on a detailed analysis of their topographical characteristics...
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ftoslouniv:oai:www.duo.uio.no:10852/101467 2023-05-15T16:37:18+02:00 Ice Aprons in the Mont Blanc Massif (Western European Alps): Topographic Characteristics and Relations with Glaciers and Other Types of Perennial Surface Ice Features ENEngelskEnglishIce Aprons in the Mont Blanc Massif (Western European Alps): Topographic Characteristics and Relations with Glaciers and Other Types of Perennial Surface Ice Features Kaushik, Suvrat Ravanel, Ludovic Magnin, Florence Trouvé, Emmanuel Yan, Yajing 2022-12-02T09:11:47Z http://hdl.handle.net/10852/101467 https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14215557 EN eng Kaushik, Suvrat Ravanel, Ludovic Magnin, Florence Trouvé, Emmanuel Yan, Yajing . Ice Aprons in the Mont Blanc Massif (Western European Alps): Topographic Characteristics and Relations with Glaciers and Other Types of Perennial Surface Ice Features. Remote Sensing. 2022, 14(21) http://hdl.handle.net/10852/101467 2087545 info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.jtitle=Remote Sensing&rft.volume=14&rft.spage=&rft.date=2022 Remote Sensing 14 21 24 https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14215557 Attribution 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 2072-4292 Journal article Tidsskriftartikkel Peer reviewed PublishedVersion 2022 ftoslouniv https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14215557 2023-03-15T23:36:45Z Ice aprons are poorly studied and not well-defined thin ice bodies adhering to high altitude steep rock faces, but are present in most Alpine-type high mountain environments worldwide. This study aims to precisely define ice aprons based on a detailed analysis of their topographical characteristics in the Mont Blanc massif (western European Alps). For this, we accurately identified and precisely mapped 423 ice aprons using a combination of high-resolution optical satellite images from 2019. To better understand their relationship with other types of glaciers, especially the steep slope glaciers and other surface ice bodies, we built a detailed inventory at the scale of the massif that incorporates nine different types of perennial surface ice bodies. In addition, an analysis using different topographic factors helped us to better understand the preferred locations of the ice aprons. We show that they predominantly occur on west-oriented steep and topographically rugged rock slopes above the local Equilibrium Line Altitude (~3200 m a.s.l.), with concave profile curvatures around them that facilitate snow accumulation. They are also found in areas underlain by permafrost. The extensive inventory also helped us to identify different types of ice aprons based on their relationships with glaciers/ice bodies. The analysis shows that ice aprons existing at the headwall of large glaciers above a bergschrund are the most dominant ice apron type in the study area, with ~82% of the total. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ice permafrost Universitet i Oslo: Digitale utgivelser ved UiO (DUO) Mont Blanc ENVELOPE(69.468,69.468,-49.461,-49.461) Remote Sensing 14 21 5557 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Universitet i Oslo: Digitale utgivelser ved UiO (DUO) |
op_collection_id |
ftoslouniv |
language |
English |
description |
Ice aprons are poorly studied and not well-defined thin ice bodies adhering to high altitude steep rock faces, but are present in most Alpine-type high mountain environments worldwide. This study aims to precisely define ice aprons based on a detailed analysis of their topographical characteristics in the Mont Blanc massif (western European Alps). For this, we accurately identified and precisely mapped 423 ice aprons using a combination of high-resolution optical satellite images from 2019. To better understand their relationship with other types of glaciers, especially the steep slope glaciers and other surface ice bodies, we built a detailed inventory at the scale of the massif that incorporates nine different types of perennial surface ice bodies. In addition, an analysis using different topographic factors helped us to better understand the preferred locations of the ice aprons. We show that they predominantly occur on west-oriented steep and topographically rugged rock slopes above the local Equilibrium Line Altitude (~3200 m a.s.l.), with concave profile curvatures around them that facilitate snow accumulation. They are also found in areas underlain by permafrost. The extensive inventory also helped us to identify different types of ice aprons based on their relationships with glaciers/ice bodies. The analysis shows that ice aprons existing at the headwall of large glaciers above a bergschrund are the most dominant ice apron type in the study area, with ~82% of the total. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kaushik, Suvrat Ravanel, Ludovic Magnin, Florence Trouvé, Emmanuel Yan, Yajing |
spellingShingle |
Kaushik, Suvrat Ravanel, Ludovic Magnin, Florence Trouvé, Emmanuel Yan, Yajing Ice Aprons in the Mont Blanc Massif (Western European Alps): Topographic Characteristics and Relations with Glaciers and Other Types of Perennial Surface Ice Features |
author_facet |
Kaushik, Suvrat Ravanel, Ludovic Magnin, Florence Trouvé, Emmanuel Yan, Yajing |
author_sort |
Kaushik, Suvrat |
title |
Ice Aprons in the Mont Blanc Massif (Western European Alps): Topographic Characteristics and Relations with Glaciers and Other Types of Perennial Surface Ice Features |
title_short |
Ice Aprons in the Mont Blanc Massif (Western European Alps): Topographic Characteristics and Relations with Glaciers and Other Types of Perennial Surface Ice Features |
title_full |
Ice Aprons in the Mont Blanc Massif (Western European Alps): Topographic Characteristics and Relations with Glaciers and Other Types of Perennial Surface Ice Features |
title_fullStr |
Ice Aprons in the Mont Blanc Massif (Western European Alps): Topographic Characteristics and Relations with Glaciers and Other Types of Perennial Surface Ice Features |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ice Aprons in the Mont Blanc Massif (Western European Alps): Topographic Characteristics and Relations with Glaciers and Other Types of Perennial Surface Ice Features |
title_sort |
ice aprons in the mont blanc massif (western european alps): topographic characteristics and relations with glaciers and other types of perennial surface ice features |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10852/101467 https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14215557 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(69.468,69.468,-49.461,-49.461) |
geographic |
Mont Blanc |
geographic_facet |
Mont Blanc |
genre |
Ice permafrost |
genre_facet |
Ice permafrost |
op_source |
2072-4292 |
op_relation |
Kaushik, Suvrat Ravanel, Ludovic Magnin, Florence Trouvé, Emmanuel Yan, Yajing . Ice Aprons in the Mont Blanc Massif (Western European Alps): Topographic Characteristics and Relations with Glaciers and Other Types of Perennial Surface Ice Features. Remote Sensing. 2022, 14(21) http://hdl.handle.net/10852/101467 2087545 info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.jtitle=Remote Sensing&rft.volume=14&rft.spage=&rft.date=2022 Remote Sensing 14 21 24 https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14215557 |
op_rights |
Attribution 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14215557 |
container_title |
Remote Sensing |
container_volume |
14 |
container_issue |
21 |
container_start_page |
5557 |
_version_ |
1766027595837603840 |