Controls on Ice Cliff Distribution and Characteristics on Debris‐Covered Glaciers

Kneib, Marin; Fyffe, Catriona; Miles, Evan; Lindemann, Shayna; Shaw, Thomas E.; Buri, Pascal; McCarthy, Mike; Ouvry, Boris; Vieli, Andreas; Sato, Yota; Kraaijenbrink, Philip; Zhao, Changwei; Molnár, Péter; Pellicciotti, Francesca

doi:10.1029/2022gl102444

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…Our findings are in agreement with some studies that suggest that debris-covered glaciers are insensitive to climate change (e.g., Anderson and Anderson, 2016;Vincent et al, 2016) [14,20]. Based on the results of this comparative study, we suggest that the 'debris-cover anomaly' phenomenon [19,20] does not imply that debris is ineffective in buffering ablation; rather, it may be related to areas referred to as 'hotspots', where debriscovered glaciers commonly develop [27,28,54,55]. The ablation 'hotspot' area within the 24K UAV survey area accounted for approximately 5.9% of the UAV survey area during the period from 2020 to 2021 (Figure 10a), and its melt ratio within the UAV survey area was found to reach 11.6% (Figure 10a).…”

Section: Contrasting Melt Pattern Of the Two Glacierssupporting

confidence: 91%

“…4 only emerged in recent years, which may have had an influence on the dynamic state of the glacier [63,64]. Studies found that some debris-covered glaciers are in a much weaker dynamic state [46,55,65]; these findings may contribute to the observed 'debris-cover anomaly' phenomenon [16,66]. Compared with the nearly stagnant glacier (ablation area), 24K is still in a relatively strong dynamic state.…”

Section: Glacier Changes Of the Two Glaciers Over Two Decadesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Contrasting Changes of Debris-Free Glacier and Debris-Covered Glacier in Southeastern Tibetan Plateau

Zhao,

He,

Kang

et al. 2024

Remote Sensing

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Debris-free and debris-covered glaciers are both extensively present in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau. High-precision and rigorous comparative observational studies on different types of glaciers help us to accurately understand the overall state of water resource variability and the underlying mechanisms. In this study, we used multi-temporal simultaneous UAV surveys to systematically explore the surface elevation change, surface velocity, and surface mass balance of two representative glaciers. Our findings indicate that the thinning rate in the debris-free Parlung No. 4 glacier UAV survey area was consistently higher than that in the debris-covered 24K glacier in 2020–2021 (−1.16 ± 0.03 cm/d vs. −0.36 ± 0.02 cm/d) and 2021–2022 (−0.69 ± 0.03 cm/d vs. −0.26 ± 0.03 cm/d). Moreover, the surface velocity of the Parlung No. 4 glacier was also consistently higher than that of the 24K glacier across the survey period, suggesting a more dynamic glacial state. The surface mass balance of the Parlung No. 4 glacier (2020–2021: −1.82 ± 0.09 cm/d; 2021–2022: −1.30 ± 0.09 cm/d) likewise outpaced that of the 24K glacier (2020–2021: −0.81 ± 0.07 cm/d; 2021–2022: −0.70 ± 0.07 cm/d) throughout the observation period, which indicates that the debris cover slowed the glacier’s melting. Additionally, we extracted the melt contribution of the ice cliff area in the 24K glacier and found that the melt ratio of this ‘hotspot’ area ranged from 10.4% to 11.6% from 2020 to 2022. This comparative analysis of two representative glaciers provides evidence to support the critical role of debris cover in controlling surface elevation changes, glacier dynamics, and surface mass balance.

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Section: Contrasting Melt Pattern Of the Two Glacierssupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Glacier Changes Of the Two Glaciers Over Two Decadesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contrasting Changes of Debris-Free Glacier and Debris-Covered Glacier in Southeastern Tibetan Plateau

Zhao,

He,

Kang

et al. 2024

Remote Sensing

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“…Debris thickness (Figure S2 in Supporting Information S1) was derived empirically as a function of velocity (Text S1.3 in Supporting Information S1). This approach was taken based on the observation that debris thickness patterns are often controlled by surface velocity, and that the relationship between the two variables has an inverse form (Anderson & Anderson, 2018;Kneib et al, 2023). At both Langtang and Lirung Glacier, the approach reproduces in situ observations (McCarthy et al, 2017(McCarthy et al, , 2022 relatively well (Figures S24a and S24b in Supporting Information S1), and for all glaciers in the catchment, it reproduces expected debris thickness patterns, i.e., thicker debris down-glacier and toward the margins, and thinner debris up-glacier and toward the center line (Figures S2 and S24c in Supporting Information S1).…”

Section: Glacier and Debris Mapsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Land Surface Modeling in the Himalayas: On the Importance of Evaporative Fluxes for the Water Balance of a High‐Elevation Catchment

Buri,

Fatichi,

Shaw

et al. 2023

Water Resources Research

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High Mountain Asia (HMA) is among the most vulnerable water towers globally and yet future projections of water availability in and from its high‐mountain catchments remain uncertain, as their hydrologic response to ongoing environmental changes is complex. Mechanistic modeling approaches incorporating cryospheric, hydrological, and vegetation processes in high spatial, temporal, and physical detail have never been applied for high‐elevation catchments of HMA. We use a land surface model at high spatial and temporal resolution (100 m and hourly) to simulate the coupled dynamics of energy, water, and vegetation for the 350 km2 Langtang catchment (Nepal). We compare our model outputs for one hydrological year against a large set of observations to gain insight into the partitioning of the water balance at the subseasonal scale and across elevation bands. During the simulated hydrological year, we find that evapotranspiration is a key component of the total water balance, as it causes about the equivalent of 20% of all the available precipitation or 154% of the water production from glacier melt in the basin to return directly to the atmosphere. The depletion of the cryospheric water budget is dominated by snow melt, but at high elevations is primarily dictated by snow and ice sublimation. Snow sublimation is the dominant vapor flux (49%) at the catchment scale, accounting for the equivalent of 11% of snowfall, 17% of snowmelt, and 75% of ice melt, respectively. We conclude that simulations should consider sublimation and other evaporative fluxes explicitly, as otherwise water balance estimates can be ill‐quantified.

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Investigation of the 2010 rock avalanche onto the regenerated glacier Brenndalsbreen, Norway

Engen,

Gjerde,

Scheiber

et al. 2024

Landslides

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Rock avalanches onto glaciers are rare in Norway. Here, we examine a rock avalanche that spread onto the regenerated Brenndalsbreen, an outlet glacier from Jostedalsbreen ice cap. The rock avalanche is intriguing in that limited information exists with respect to the exact time of failure, location of detachment area, and preparatory and triggering processes. Based on an analysis of ice stratigraphy and photographic documentation, we assess that the event happened between mid-March and June 4, 2010. A potential triggering factor could have been heavy snow and rainfall combined with above freezing air temperatures on March 18–19, 2010. We use digital terrain models to determine that the detachment area is at an almost vertical rock slope in a narrow gorge above Lower Brenndalsbreen. The deposit volume is estimated to 0.130 ± 0.065 Mm3, and the H/L ratio and fahrböschung are 0.45 and 24°, respectively. We apply a Voellmy flow model to confirm the detachment location and volume estimate by producing realistic runout lengths. Although glacial debuttressing may have been a likely preparatory process, the detachment area was exposed for 45–70 years before the rock avalanche occurred. The supraglacial rock avalanche debris was separated into two branches with a distinct melt-out line across the glacier. The debris reached the glacier front in 2019 and 2020, where it started being deposited proglacially while Lower Brenndalsbreen kept receding. The 2010 Brenndalsbreen rock avalanche may not be a unique event, as deposits constituting evidence of an old rock avalanche are currently melting out at the glacier front.

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Controls on Ice Cliff Distribution and Characteristics on Debris‐Covered Glaciers

Cited by 7 publications

References 77 publications

Contrasting Changes of Debris-Free Glacier and Debris-Covered Glacier in Southeastern Tibetan Plateau

Contrasting Changes of Debris-Free Glacier and Debris-Covered Glacier in Southeastern Tibetan Plateau

Land Surface Modeling in the Himalayas: On the Importance of Evaporative Fluxes for the Water Balance of a High‐Elevation Catchment

Investigation of the 2010 rock avalanche onto the regenerated glacier Brenndalsbreen, Norway

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