Characterizing and Monitoring the Water Properties and Dynamics of Lhù’ààn Mǟn (Kluane Lake), Yukon, in the Face of Climate Change

McKnight, Ellorie

doi:10.14430/arctic4692

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…This hydrological reorganisation has directly impacted local communities through metres of lowering of downstream Lhú’áán Män (Kluane Lake) (e.g. McKnight, 2017) and degradation of local air quality arising from dust mobilised from the abandoned Ä’äy Chú (Slims River) valley (Bachelder and others, 2020). In addition to its profound effects on local hydrology, the Kaskawulsh Glacier is also an excellent indicator of regional glacier change: it represents ~9% of glacier-ice volume in Yukon (Farinotti and others, 2019), and experienced rates of mass loss from 1977 to 2007 nearly identical to those calculated for the St. Elias Mountains as a whole (Berthier and others, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An imbalancing act: the delayed dynamic response of the Kaskawulsh Glacier to sustained mass loss

2020

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The Kaskawulsh Glacier is an iconic outlet draining the icefields of the St. Elias Mountains in Yukon, Canada. We determine and attempt to interpret its catchment-wide mass budget since 2007. Using SPOT5/6/7 data we estimate a 2007–18 geodetic balance of −0.46 ± 0.17 m w.e. a−1. We then compute balance fluxes and observed ice fluxes at nine flux gates to examine the discrepancy between the climatic mass balance and internal mass redistribution by glacier flow. Balance fluxes are computed using a fully distributed mass-balance model driven by downscaled and bias-corrected climate-reanalysis data. Observed fluxes are calculated using NASA ITS_LIVE surface velocities and glacier cross-sectional areas derived from ice-penetrating radar data. We find the glacier is still in the early stages of dynamic adjustment to its mass imbalance. We estimate a committed terminus retreat of ~23 km under the 2007–18 climate and a lower bound of 46 km3 of committed ice loss, equivalent to ~15% of the total glacier volume.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An imbalancing act: the delayed dynamic response of the Kaskawulsh Glacier to sustained mass loss

2020

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“…This hydrological reorganization has directly impacted local communities through metres of lowering of downstream Lhú'áán Män (Kluane Lake) (e.g. McKnight, 2017) and degradation of local air quality arising from dust mobilized from the abandoned Ä'äy Chú (Slims River) valley (Bachelder and others, 2020). In addition to its profound eects on local hydrology, the Kaskawulsh Glacier is also an excellent indicator of regional glacier change: it represents ∼9% of glacier-ice volume in Yukon (Farinotti and others, 2019), and experienced rates of mass loss from 19772007 nearly identical to those calculated for the St. Elias Mountains as a whole (Berthier and others, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An imbalancing act: the dynamic response of the Kaskawulsh Glacier to a changing mass budget

Young¹,

Flowers²,

Berthier³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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The Kaskawulsh Glacier is an iconic outlet draining the icefields of the St. Elias Mountains in Yukon, Canada. We determine and attempt to interpret its catchment-wide mass budget since 2007. Using SPOT5/6/7 data we estimate a 2007-2018 geodetic balance of $-$0.46 $\pm$ 0.17 m w.e. a$^{-1}$. By comparing computed balance fluxes with observed ice fluxes at nine flux gates we examine the discrepancy between the climatic mass balance and internal mass redistribution by glacier flow. Balance fluxes are computed using a fully distributed mass-balance model driven by downscaled and bias-corrected climate-reanalysis data. Observed fluxes are calculated using NASA ITS_LIVE surface velocities and glacier cross-sectional areas derived from ice-penetrating radar data. We find the glacier is still in the early stages of dynamic adjustment to its mass imbalance. We estimate a committed terminus retreat of $\sim$23 km under the 2007-2018 climate and a lower bound of 46 km$^3$ of committed ice loss, equivalent to $\sim$15\% of the total glacier volume. By combining our observations and model output using the continuity equation, we highlight challenges and opportunities in exploring the mass budget of large land-terminating glaciers.

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Impacts of Loss of Cryosphere in the High Mountains of Northwest North America

Clague

Shugar

2023

Quaternary

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Global atmospheric warming is causing physical and biotic changes in Earth’s high mountains at a rate that is likely unprecedented in the Holocene. We summarize changes in the presently glacierized mountains of northwest North America, including a rapid and large reduction in glacier ice and permafrost, a related increase in slope instability and landslides, river re-routing and other hydrological changes, and changing aquatic ecosystems. Atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations continue to rise and will likely do so for at least the next several decades, if not longer, and mountains will continue to warm, perhaps reaching temperatures up to several degrees Celsius warmer than present over the remainder of this century. As a result, the rate of physical and biotic changes documented in this paper is very likely to dramatically increase and transform high-mountain environments.

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Characterizing and Monitoring the Water Properties and Dynamics of Lhù’ààn Mǟn (Kluane Lake), Yukon, in the Face of Climate Change

Cited by 3 publications

References 21 publications

An imbalancing act: the delayed dynamic response of the Kaskawulsh Glacier to sustained mass loss

An imbalancing act: the delayed dynamic response of the Kaskawulsh Glacier to sustained mass loss

An imbalancing act: the dynamic response of the Kaskawulsh Glacier to a changing mass budget

Impacts of Loss of Cryosphere in the High Mountains of Northwest North America

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