Surface motion of active rock glaciers in the Sierra Nevada, California, USA: inventory and a case study using InSAR
Despite the abundance of rock glaciers in the Sierra Nevada of California, USA, few efforts have been made to measure their surface flow. Here we use the interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) technique to compile a benchmark inventory describing the kinematic state of 59 active rock glaci...
Published in: | The Cryosphere |
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Copernicus Publications
2013
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-1109-2013 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/7/1109/2013/tc-7-1109-2013.pdf https://doaj.org/article/aa668ca966d74636ad55db75c63dc0b5 |
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:doaj.org/article:aa668ca966d74636ad55db75c63dc0b5 2023-05-15T18:32:23+02:00 Surface motion of active rock glaciers in the Sierra Nevada, California, USA: inventory and a case study using InSAR L. Liu C. I. Millar R. D. Westfall H. A. Zebker 2013-07-01 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-1109-2013 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/7/1109/2013/tc-7-1109-2013.pdf https://doaj.org/article/aa668ca966d74636ad55db75c63dc0b5 en eng Copernicus Publications doi:10.5194/tc-7-1109-2013 1994-0416 1994-0424 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/7/1109/2013/tc-7-1109-2013.pdf https://doaj.org/article/aa668ca966d74636ad55db75c63dc0b5 undefined The Cryosphere, Vol 7, Iss 4, Pp 1109-1119 (2013) geo envir Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2013 fttriple https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-1109-2013 2023-01-22T18:33:15Z Despite the abundance of rock glaciers in the Sierra Nevada of California, USA, few efforts have been made to measure their surface flow. Here we use the interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) technique to compile a benchmark inventory describing the kinematic state of 59 active rock glaciers in this region. In the late summer of 2007, these rock glaciers moved at speeds that range from 14 cm yr−1 to 87 cm yr−1, with a regional mean value of 53 cm yr−1. Our inventory reveals a spatial difference: rock glaciers in the southern Sierra Nevada moved faster than the ones in the central Sierra Nevada. In addition to the regional mapping, we also conduct a case study to measure the surface flow of the Mount Gibbs rock glacier in fine spatial and temporal detail. The InSAR measurements over this target reveal (1) that the spatial pattern of flow is correlated with surface geomorphic features and (2) a significant seasonal variation of flow speed whose peak value was 48 cm yr−1in the fall of 2007, more than twice the minimum value observed in the spring of 2008. The seasonal variation lagged air temperatures by three months. Our finding on the seasonal variation of surface speed reinforces the importance of a long time series with high temporal sampling rates to detect possible long-term changes of rock glacier kinematics in a warming climate. Article in Journal/Newspaper The Cryosphere Unknown Mount Gibbs ENVELOPE(-66.016,-66.016,-68.466,-68.466) The Cryosphere 7 4 1109 1119 |
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language |
English |
topic |
geo envir |
spellingShingle |
geo envir L. Liu C. I. Millar R. D. Westfall H. A. Zebker Surface motion of active rock glaciers in the Sierra Nevada, California, USA: inventory and a case study using InSAR |
topic_facet |
geo envir |
description |
Despite the abundance of rock glaciers in the Sierra Nevada of California, USA, few efforts have been made to measure their surface flow. Here we use the interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) technique to compile a benchmark inventory describing the kinematic state of 59 active rock glaciers in this region. In the late summer of 2007, these rock glaciers moved at speeds that range from 14 cm yr−1 to 87 cm yr−1, with a regional mean value of 53 cm yr−1. Our inventory reveals a spatial difference: rock glaciers in the southern Sierra Nevada moved faster than the ones in the central Sierra Nevada. In addition to the regional mapping, we also conduct a case study to measure the surface flow of the Mount Gibbs rock glacier in fine spatial and temporal detail. The InSAR measurements over this target reveal (1) that the spatial pattern of flow is correlated with surface geomorphic features and (2) a significant seasonal variation of flow speed whose peak value was 48 cm yr−1in the fall of 2007, more than twice the minimum value observed in the spring of 2008. The seasonal variation lagged air temperatures by three months. Our finding on the seasonal variation of surface speed reinforces the importance of a long time series with high temporal sampling rates to detect possible long-term changes of rock glacier kinematics in a warming climate. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
L. Liu C. I. Millar R. D. Westfall H. A. Zebker |
author_facet |
L. Liu C. I. Millar R. D. Westfall H. A. Zebker |
author_sort |
L. Liu |
title |
Surface motion of active rock glaciers in the Sierra Nevada, California, USA: inventory and a case study using InSAR |
title_short |
Surface motion of active rock glaciers in the Sierra Nevada, California, USA: inventory and a case study using InSAR |
title_full |
Surface motion of active rock glaciers in the Sierra Nevada, California, USA: inventory and a case study using InSAR |
title_fullStr |
Surface motion of active rock glaciers in the Sierra Nevada, California, USA: inventory and a case study using InSAR |
title_full_unstemmed |
Surface motion of active rock glaciers in the Sierra Nevada, California, USA: inventory and a case study using InSAR |
title_sort |
surface motion of active rock glaciers in the sierra nevada, california, usa: inventory and a case study using insar |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-1109-2013 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/7/1109/2013/tc-7-1109-2013.pdf https://doaj.org/article/aa668ca966d74636ad55db75c63dc0b5 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-66.016,-66.016,-68.466,-68.466) |
geographic |
Mount Gibbs |
geographic_facet |
Mount Gibbs |
genre |
The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 7, Iss 4, Pp 1109-1119 (2013) |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/tc-7-1109-2013 1994-0416 1994-0424 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/7/1109/2013/tc-7-1109-2013.pdf https://doaj.org/article/aa668ca966d74636ad55db75c63dc0b5 |
op_rights |
undefined |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-1109-2013 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
7 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
1109 |
op_container_end_page |
1119 |
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1766216491625086976 |