From balance to imbalance: a shift in the dynamic behaviour of Chhota Shigri glacier, western Himalaya, India

Abstract

International audienceMass-balance and dynamic behaviour of Chhota Shigri Glacier have been investigated between 2002 and 2010 and compared to data collected in 1987/1989. During the period 2002/2010, the glacier experienced a negative glacier-wide mass balance of -0.67 ± 0.40 m/a w.e. Between 2003 and 2010, elevation and ice flow velocities are slowly decreasing in the ablation area leading to a 24 to 37% reduction in ice fluxes, an expected response of the glacier dynamics to its recent negative mass balances. The reduced ice fluxes still remain far larger than the balance fluxes calculated from the year 2002 to 2010 average surface mass balances. Therefore, further slow down, thinning and terminus retreat of Chhota Shigri Glacier are expected over the next years. Conversely, the 2003/2004 ice fluxes are in good agreement with ice fluxes calculated assuming that the glacier-wide mass balance is zero. Given the limited velocity change between 1987/1989 and 2003/2004 and the small terminus change between 1988 and 2010, we suggest that the glacier has experienced a period of near zero or slightly positive mass balance in the 1990s, before shifting to a strong imbalance in the 21st century. This result challenges the generally accepted idea that glaciers of Western Himalaya have been shrinking rapidly for the last decades

Estimation of Glacier Mass Balance on a Basin Scale:An Approach Based on Satellite-Derived Snowlines and a Temperature Index Model

“…Mass-balance data for Chhota Shigri from 2002/03 to 2008/09 from the glaciological method are obtained from the literature 36,37 . Mass-balance estimates from field measurements for Hamtah glacier from 2001 to 2008 are taken from unpublished reports of the Geological Survey of India (GSI).…”

Identification of Potential Glacial Lake Sites and Mapping Maximum Extent of Existing Glacier Lakes in Drang Drung and Samudra Tapu Glaciers, Indian Himalaya

“…The ice thickness and bed topography results of Chhota Shigri were compared with the GPR measurements 15 . Maximum ice thickness and bed topography measurements are available for four cross-sections along the glacier (Figure 2 b).…”

“…We applied the methodology to Chhota Shigri, one of the few well-studied glaciers in the Indian Himalaya for which GPR measurements are available 15 . The results obtained for Chhota Shigri were used to validate the methodology, which was thereafter applied to Drang Drung and Samudra Tapu.…”

“…Several researchers have studied the chemical constituents of vehicular soot particles for their toxicity or carcinogenicity [10][11][12][13] , and health impacts of emissions from diesel-driven vehicles on school-going children, adult commuters, drivers and passengers [14][15][16][17] . However, there is a limited number of publications discussing the composition of condensed soot particles which accumulate on the inner surface of the tailpipe of share autos.…”

Mass Balance Estimation Using Geodetic Method for Glaciers in Baspa Basin, Western Himalaya

“…However, the harsh topographic and weather conditions in the Himalayas are not favourable for detailed ground-based glaciological studies 1,7,8 . Due to limitations in field investigations [9][10][11][12] , remote sensing techniques such as the Accumulation Area Ratio (AAR) and Equilibrium Line Altitude (ELA) methods have been used to study the mass balance of glaciers in the Himalayas [13][14][15] . In addition, geodetic method (comparison of multi-temporal digital terrain models) has been used to estimate the glacier mass balance at basin and regional scales in the Himalayas 2,6,16,17 .…”