Impact of varying debris cover thickness on ablation: a case study for Koxkar Glacier in the Tien Shan

• Published in: The Cryosphere
• Main Authors: M. Juen, C. Mayer, A. Lambrecht, H. Han, S. Liu
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2014
• Subjects: geo; envir; The Cryosphere
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-377-2014; http://www.the-cryosphere.net/8/377/2014/tc-8-377-2014.pdf; https://doaj.org/article/bd9a24cf72d4495cb484fb08c55939de

To quantify the ablation processes on a debris covered glacier, a simple distributed ablation model has been developed and applied to a selected glacier. For this purpose, a set of field measurements was carried out to collect empirical data. A morphometric analysis of the glacier surface enables us to capture statistically the areal distribution of topographic features that influence debris thickness and consequently ablation. Remote-sensing techniques, using high-resolution satellite imagery, were used to extrapolate the in situ point measurements to the whole ablation area and to map and classify melt-relevant surface types. As a result, a practically applicable method is presented that allows the estimation of ablation on a debris covered glacier by combining field data and remote-sensing information. The sub-debris ice ablation accounts for about 24% of the entire ice ablation, while the percentage of the moraine covered area accounts for approximately 32% of the entire glacierized area. Although the ice cliffs occupy only 1.7% of the debris covered area, the melt amount accounts for approximately 12% of the total sub-debris ablation and 2.5% of the total ablation respectively. Our study highlights the influence of debris cover on the response of the glacier terminus in a particular climate setting. Due to the fact that melt rates beyond 0.1 m of moraine cover are highly restricted, the shielding effect of the debris cover dominates over the temperature and elevation dependence of the ablation in the bare ice case.