Spatial variability in mass loss of glaciers in the Everest region, central Himalayas, between 2000 and 2015
Region-wide averaging of Himalayan glacier mass change has masked any catchment or glacier-scale variability in glacier recession; thus the role of a number of glaciological processes in glacier wastage remains poorly understood. In this study, we quantify mass loss rates over the period 2000–2015 f...
Published in: | The Cryosphere |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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Copernicus Publications
2017
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-407-2017 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/11/407/2017/tc-11-407-2017.pdf https://doaj.org/article/a466506cc3c24322a292cec43f3678f9 |
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:doaj.org/article:a466506cc3c24322a292cec43f3678f9 2023-05-15T18:32:21+02:00 Spatial variability in mass loss of glaciers in the Everest region, central Himalayas, between 2000 and 2015 O. King D. J. Quincey J. L. Carrivick A. V. Rowan 2017-02-01 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-407-2017 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/11/407/2017/tc-11-407-2017.pdf https://doaj.org/article/a466506cc3c24322a292cec43f3678f9 en eng Copernicus Publications 1994-0416 1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-11-407-2017 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/11/407/2017/tc-11-407-2017.pdf https://doaj.org/article/a466506cc3c24322a292cec43f3678f9 undefined The Cryosphere, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 407-426 (2017) envir geo Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2017 fttriple https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-407-2017 2023-01-22T19:12:00Z Region-wide averaging of Himalayan glacier mass change has masked any catchment or glacier-scale variability in glacier recession; thus the role of a number of glaciological processes in glacier wastage remains poorly understood. In this study, we quantify mass loss rates over the period 2000–2015 for 32 glaciers across the Everest region and assess how future ice loss is likely to differ depending on glacier hypsometry. The mean mass balance of all 32 glaciers in our sample was −0.52 ± 0.22 m water equivalent (w.e.) a−1. The mean mass balance of nine lacustrine-terminating glaciers (−0.70 ± 0.26 m w.e. a−1) was 32 % more negative than land-terminating, debris-covered glaciers (−0.53 ± 0.21 m w.e. a−1). The mass balance of lacustrine-terminating glaciers is highly variable (−0.45 ± 0.13 to −0.91 ± 0.22 m w.e. a−1), perhaps reflecting glacial lakes at different stages of development. To assess the importance of hypsometry on glacier response to future temperature increases, we calculated current (Dudh Koshi – 0.41, Tama Koshi – 0.43, Pumqu – 0.37) and prospective future glacier accumulation area Ratios (AARs). IPCC AR5 RCP 4.5 warming (0.9–2.3 °C by 2100) could reduce AARs to 0.29 or 0.08 in the Tama Koshi catchment, 0.27 or 0.17 in the Dudh Koshi catchment and 0.29 or 0.18 in the Pumqu catchment. Our results suggest that glacial lake expansion across the Himalayas could expedite ice mass loss and the prediction of future contributions of glacial meltwater to river flow will be complicated by spatially variable glacier responses to climate change. Article in Journal/Newspaper The Cryosphere Unknown Glacial Lake ENVELOPE(-129.463,-129.463,58.259,58.259) The Cryosphere 11 1 407 426 |
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Open Polar |
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op_collection_id |
fttriple |
language |
English |
topic |
envir geo |
spellingShingle |
envir geo O. King D. J. Quincey J. L. Carrivick A. V. Rowan Spatial variability in mass loss of glaciers in the Everest region, central Himalayas, between 2000 and 2015 |
topic_facet |
envir geo |
description |
Region-wide averaging of Himalayan glacier mass change has masked any catchment or glacier-scale variability in glacier recession; thus the role of a number of glaciological processes in glacier wastage remains poorly understood. In this study, we quantify mass loss rates over the period 2000–2015 for 32 glaciers across the Everest region and assess how future ice loss is likely to differ depending on glacier hypsometry. The mean mass balance of all 32 glaciers in our sample was −0.52 ± 0.22 m water equivalent (w.e.) a−1. The mean mass balance of nine lacustrine-terminating glaciers (−0.70 ± 0.26 m w.e. a−1) was 32 % more negative than land-terminating, debris-covered glaciers (−0.53 ± 0.21 m w.e. a−1). The mass balance of lacustrine-terminating glaciers is highly variable (−0.45 ± 0.13 to −0.91 ± 0.22 m w.e. a−1), perhaps reflecting glacial lakes at different stages of development. To assess the importance of hypsometry on glacier response to future temperature increases, we calculated current (Dudh Koshi – 0.41, Tama Koshi – 0.43, Pumqu – 0.37) and prospective future glacier accumulation area Ratios (AARs). IPCC AR5 RCP 4.5 warming (0.9–2.3 °C by 2100) could reduce AARs to 0.29 or 0.08 in the Tama Koshi catchment, 0.27 or 0.17 in the Dudh Koshi catchment and 0.29 or 0.18 in the Pumqu catchment. Our results suggest that glacial lake expansion across the Himalayas could expedite ice mass loss and the prediction of future contributions of glacial meltwater to river flow will be complicated by spatially variable glacier responses to climate change. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
O. King D. J. Quincey J. L. Carrivick A. V. Rowan |
author_facet |
O. King D. J. Quincey J. L. Carrivick A. V. Rowan |
author_sort |
O. King |
title |
Spatial variability in mass loss of glaciers in the Everest region, central Himalayas, between 2000 and 2015 |
title_short |
Spatial variability in mass loss of glaciers in the Everest region, central Himalayas, between 2000 and 2015 |
title_full |
Spatial variability in mass loss of glaciers in the Everest region, central Himalayas, between 2000 and 2015 |
title_fullStr |
Spatial variability in mass loss of glaciers in the Everest region, central Himalayas, between 2000 and 2015 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Spatial variability in mass loss of glaciers in the Everest region, central Himalayas, between 2000 and 2015 |
title_sort |
spatial variability in mass loss of glaciers in the everest region, central himalayas, between 2000 and 2015 |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-407-2017 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/11/407/2017/tc-11-407-2017.pdf https://doaj.org/article/a466506cc3c24322a292cec43f3678f9 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-129.463,-129.463,58.259,58.259) |
geographic |
Glacial Lake |
geographic_facet |
Glacial Lake |
genre |
The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 407-426 (2017) |
op_relation |
1994-0416 1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-11-407-2017 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/11/407/2017/tc-11-407-2017.pdf https://doaj.org/article/a466506cc3c24322a292cec43f3678f9 |
op_rights |
undefined |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-407-2017 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
407 |
op_container_end_page |
426 |
_version_ |
1766216459177951232 |