Seasonally stable temperature gradients through supraglacial debris in the Everest region of Nepal, Central Himalaya
Rock debris covers ~30% of glacier ablation areas in the Central Himalaya and modifies the impact of atmospheric conditions on mass balance. The thermal properties of supraglacial debris are diurnally variable but remain poorly constrained for monsoon-influenced glaciers over the timescale of the ab...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.100 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/152013 |
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ftunivtasecite:oai:ecite.utas.edu.au:152013 2023-05-15T16:57:39+02:00 Seasonally stable temperature gradients through supraglacial debris in the Everest region of Nepal, Central Himalaya Rowan, AV Nicholson, LI Quincey, DJ Gibson, MJ Irvine-Fynn, TDL Watson, CS Wagnon, P Rounce, DR Thompson, SS Porter, PR Glasser, NF 2021 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.100 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/152013 en eng Int Glaciol Soc http://ecite.utas.edu.au/152013/1/152013 - Seasonally stable temperature gradients through supraglacial.pdf http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.100 Rowan, AV and Nicholson, LI and Quincey, DJ and Gibson, MJ and Irvine-Fynn, TDL and Watson, CS and Wagnon, P and Rounce, DR and Thompson, SS and Porter, PR and Glasser, NF, Seasonally stable temperature gradients through supraglacial debris in the Everest region of Nepal, Central Himalaya, Journal of Glaciology, 67, (261) pp. 170-181. ISSN 0022-1430 (2021) [Refereed Article] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/152013 Earth Sciences Physical geography and environmental geoscience Glaciology Refereed Article PeerReviewed 2021 ftunivtasecite https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.100 2022-10-10T22:16:42Z Rock debris covers ~30% of glacier ablation areas in the Central Himalaya and modifies the impact of atmospheric conditions on mass balance. The thermal properties of supraglacial debris are diurnally variable but remain poorly constrained for monsoon-influenced glaciers over the timescale of the ablation season. We measured vertical debris profile temperatures at 12 sites on four glaciers in the Everest region with debris thickness ranging from 0.08 to 2.8 m. Typically, the length of the ice ablation season beneath supraglacial debris was 160 days (15 May to 22 October)a month longer than the monsoon season. Debris temperature gradients were approximately linear ( r 2 > 0.83), measured as −40C m 1 where debris was up to 0.1 m thick, −20C m 1 for debris 0.10.5 m thick, and −4C m 1 for debris greater than 0.5 m thick. Our results demonstrate that the influence of supraglacial debris on the temperature of the underlying ice surface, and therefore melt, is stable at a seasonal timescale and can be estimated from near-surface temperature. These results have the potential to greatly improve the representation of ablation in calculations of debris-covered glacier mass balance and projections of their response to climate change. Article in Journal/Newspaper Journal of Glaciology eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) Journal of Glaciology 67 261 170 181 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtasecite |
language |
English |
topic |
Earth Sciences Physical geography and environmental geoscience Glaciology |
spellingShingle |
Earth Sciences Physical geography and environmental geoscience Glaciology Rowan, AV Nicholson, LI Quincey, DJ Gibson, MJ Irvine-Fynn, TDL Watson, CS Wagnon, P Rounce, DR Thompson, SS Porter, PR Glasser, NF Seasonally stable temperature gradients through supraglacial debris in the Everest region of Nepal, Central Himalaya |
topic_facet |
Earth Sciences Physical geography and environmental geoscience Glaciology |
description |
Rock debris covers ~30% of glacier ablation areas in the Central Himalaya and modifies the impact of atmospheric conditions on mass balance. The thermal properties of supraglacial debris are diurnally variable but remain poorly constrained for monsoon-influenced glaciers over the timescale of the ablation season. We measured vertical debris profile temperatures at 12 sites on four glaciers in the Everest region with debris thickness ranging from 0.08 to 2.8 m. Typically, the length of the ice ablation season beneath supraglacial debris was 160 days (15 May to 22 October)a month longer than the monsoon season. Debris temperature gradients were approximately linear ( r 2 > 0.83), measured as −40C m 1 where debris was up to 0.1 m thick, −20C m 1 for debris 0.10.5 m thick, and −4C m 1 for debris greater than 0.5 m thick. Our results demonstrate that the influence of supraglacial debris on the temperature of the underlying ice surface, and therefore melt, is stable at a seasonal timescale and can be estimated from near-surface temperature. These results have the potential to greatly improve the representation of ablation in calculations of debris-covered glacier mass balance and projections of their response to climate change. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Rowan, AV Nicholson, LI Quincey, DJ Gibson, MJ Irvine-Fynn, TDL Watson, CS Wagnon, P Rounce, DR Thompson, SS Porter, PR Glasser, NF |
author_facet |
Rowan, AV Nicholson, LI Quincey, DJ Gibson, MJ Irvine-Fynn, TDL Watson, CS Wagnon, P Rounce, DR Thompson, SS Porter, PR Glasser, NF |
author_sort |
Rowan, AV |
title |
Seasonally stable temperature gradients through supraglacial debris in the Everest region of Nepal, Central Himalaya |
title_short |
Seasonally stable temperature gradients through supraglacial debris in the Everest region of Nepal, Central Himalaya |
title_full |
Seasonally stable temperature gradients through supraglacial debris in the Everest region of Nepal, Central Himalaya |
title_fullStr |
Seasonally stable temperature gradients through supraglacial debris in the Everest region of Nepal, Central Himalaya |
title_full_unstemmed |
Seasonally stable temperature gradients through supraglacial debris in the Everest region of Nepal, Central Himalaya |
title_sort |
seasonally stable temperature gradients through supraglacial debris in the everest region of nepal, central himalaya |
publisher |
Int Glaciol Soc |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.100 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/152013 |
genre |
Journal of Glaciology |
genre_facet |
Journal of Glaciology |
op_relation |
http://ecite.utas.edu.au/152013/1/152013 - Seasonally stable temperature gradients through supraglacial.pdf http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.100 Rowan, AV and Nicholson, LI and Quincey, DJ and Gibson, MJ and Irvine-Fynn, TDL and Watson, CS and Wagnon, P and Rounce, DR and Thompson, SS and Porter, PR and Glasser, NF, Seasonally stable temperature gradients through supraglacial debris in the Everest region of Nepal, Central Himalaya, Journal of Glaciology, 67, (261) pp. 170-181. ISSN 0022-1430 (2021) [Refereed Article] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/152013 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.100 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_volume |
67 |
container_issue |
261 |
container_start_page |
170 |
op_container_end_page |
181 |
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1766049223066779648 |