Dye tracing a jokulhlaup: I. Subglacial water transit speed and water-storage mechanism
We present results of an investigation of two jökulhlaups (glacial lake outburst floods) at Gornergletscher, Switzerland, using dye-tracer experiments and complementary hydrological measurements. Repeated dye injections into moulins showed that tracer transit speeds were larger after the lake had em...
Published in: | Journal of Glaciology |
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Language: | English |
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2009
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1983/e6902383-bd33-4ed4-81d4-ff7b9d62d634 https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/e6902383-bd33-4ed4-81d4-ff7b9d62d634 https://doi.org/10.3189/002214309790152447 |
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ftubristolcris:oai:research-information.bris.ac.uk:publications/e6902383-bd33-4ed4-81d4-ff7b9d62d634 2024-01-28T10:06:54+01:00 Dye tracing a jokulhlaup: I. Subglacial water transit speed and water-storage mechanism Werder, Mauro A Loye, Alexandre Funk, Martin 2009 https://hdl.handle.net/1983/e6902383-bd33-4ed4-81d4-ff7b9d62d634 https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/e6902383-bd33-4ed4-81d4-ff7b9d62d634 https://doi.org/10.3189/002214309790152447 eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess Werder , M A , Loye , A & Funk , M 2009 , ' Dye tracing a jokulhlaup: I. Subglacial water transit speed and water-storage mechanism ' , Journal of Glaciology , vol. 55 , no. 193 , pp. 889-898 . https://doi.org/10.3189/002214309790152447 article 2009 ftubristolcris https://doi.org/10.3189/002214309790152447 2024-01-04T23:40:23Z We present results of an investigation of two jökulhlaups (glacial lake outburst floods) at Gornergletscher, Switzerland, using dye-tracer experiments and complementary hydrological measurements. Repeated dye injections into moulins showed that tracer transit speeds were larger after the lake had emptied, but when proglacial discharge was still high, than during the main phase of the jökulhlaups. This counter-intuitive finding was modelled by tracer retardation inside the injection moulin. This model, together with an estimate of the maximum time the tracer takes to transit the injection moulin, allows us to calculate bounds on the transit speed in the main drainage channel where the lake water flows. These results indicate that the main drainage channel transit speeds are indeed highest during the peak of the flood. Moreover, it is known from a previous study that water amounting to half of the lake volume is temporarily stored within the glacier during a Gornergletscher jökulhlaups. Our observations suggest that this process occurred via lateral spreading of water at the glacier bed. Article in Journal/Newspaper Journal of Glaciology University of Bristol: Bristol Research Glacial Lake ENVELOPE(-129.463,-129.463,58.259,58.259) Journal of Glaciology 55 193 889 898 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Bristol: Bristol Research |
op_collection_id |
ftubristolcris |
language |
English |
description |
We present results of an investigation of two jökulhlaups (glacial lake outburst floods) at Gornergletscher, Switzerland, using dye-tracer experiments and complementary hydrological measurements. Repeated dye injections into moulins showed that tracer transit speeds were larger after the lake had emptied, but when proglacial discharge was still high, than during the main phase of the jökulhlaups. This counter-intuitive finding was modelled by tracer retardation inside the injection moulin. This model, together with an estimate of the maximum time the tracer takes to transit the injection moulin, allows us to calculate bounds on the transit speed in the main drainage channel where the lake water flows. These results indicate that the main drainage channel transit speeds are indeed highest during the peak of the flood. Moreover, it is known from a previous study that water amounting to half of the lake volume is temporarily stored within the glacier during a Gornergletscher jökulhlaups. Our observations suggest that this process occurred via lateral spreading of water at the glacier bed. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Werder, Mauro A Loye, Alexandre Funk, Martin |
spellingShingle |
Werder, Mauro A Loye, Alexandre Funk, Martin Dye tracing a jokulhlaup: I. Subglacial water transit speed and water-storage mechanism |
author_facet |
Werder, Mauro A Loye, Alexandre Funk, Martin |
author_sort |
Werder, Mauro A |
title |
Dye tracing a jokulhlaup: I. Subglacial water transit speed and water-storage mechanism |
title_short |
Dye tracing a jokulhlaup: I. Subglacial water transit speed and water-storage mechanism |
title_full |
Dye tracing a jokulhlaup: I. Subglacial water transit speed and water-storage mechanism |
title_fullStr |
Dye tracing a jokulhlaup: I. Subglacial water transit speed and water-storage mechanism |
title_full_unstemmed |
Dye tracing a jokulhlaup: I. Subglacial water transit speed and water-storage mechanism |
title_sort |
dye tracing a jokulhlaup: i. subglacial water transit speed and water-storage mechanism |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/1983/e6902383-bd33-4ed4-81d4-ff7b9d62d634 https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/e6902383-bd33-4ed4-81d4-ff7b9d62d634 https://doi.org/10.3189/002214309790152447 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-129.463,-129.463,58.259,58.259) |
geographic |
Glacial Lake |
geographic_facet |
Glacial Lake |
genre |
Journal of Glaciology |
genre_facet |
Journal of Glaciology |
op_source |
Werder , M A , Loye , A & Funk , M 2009 , ' Dye tracing a jokulhlaup: I. Subglacial water transit speed and water-storage mechanism ' , Journal of Glaciology , vol. 55 , no. 193 , pp. 889-898 . https://doi.org/10.3189/002214309790152447 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3189/002214309790152447 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_volume |
55 |
container_issue |
193 |
container_start_page |
889 |
op_container_end_page |
898 |
_version_ |
1789334127184445440 |