Contemporary Glacier Processes and Global Change: Recent Observations from Kaskawulsh Glacier and the Donjek Range, St. Elias Mountains

• Published in: ARCTIC
• Main Authors: Flowers, Gwenn E., Copland, Luke, Schoof, Christian G.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The Arctic Institute of North America 2014
• Subjects: Kluane Lake Research Station; St. Elias Mountains; glaciology; Kaskawulsh Glacier; Donjek Range; glacier mass balance; glacier change; glacier dynamics; glacier surges; glacier-climate interactions; subglacial processes; station de recherche du lac Kluane; monts St. Elias; glaciologie; glacier Kaskawulsh; chaîne Donjek; bilan de masse des glaciers; changements caractérisant les glaciers; dynamique des glaciers; crues glaciaires; interactions glacier-climat; processus sous; Kluane Lake; Arctic
• Online Access: https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/67400

With an extensive ice cover and rich display of glacier behaviour, the St. Elias Mountains continue to be an enviable natural laboratory for glaciological research. Recent work has been motivated in part by the magnitude and pace of observed glacier change in this area, which is so ice-rich that ice loss has a measurable impact on global sea level. Both detection and attribution of these changes, as well as investigations into fundamental glacier processes, have been central themes in projects initiated within the last decade and based at the Kluane Lake Research Station. The scientific objectives of these projects are (1) to quantify recent area and volume changes of Kaskawulsh Glacier and place them in historical perspective, (2) to investigate the regional variability of glacier response to climate and the modulating influence of ice dynamics, and (3) to characterize the hydromechanical controls on glacier sliding. A wide range of methods is being used, from ground-based manual measurements to space-based remote sensing. The observations to date show glaciers out of equilibrium, with significant ongoing changes to glacier area, volume, and dynamics. Computer models are being used to generalize these results, and to identify the processes most critical to our understanding of the coupled glacier-climate system. Grâce à leur importante couverture de glace et au riche étalage de comportement des glaciers, les monts St. Elias continuent de servir de laboratoire naturel enviable pour la recherche glaciologique. Des études récentes ont été motivées, en partie, par la magnitude et la vitesse des changements observés dans les glaciers de l’endroit, qui sont riches en glace au point que la perte de glace a une incidence mesurable sur le niveau général de la mer. La détection et l’attribution de ces changements de même que les recherches à l’égard des processus des glaciers ont servi de thème central à des projets qui ont été mis en oeuvre au cours de la dernière décennie à la station de recherche du lac Kluane. Les ...