Meteorological and glaciological observations at Suntar-Khayata Glacier No. 31, east Siberia, from 2012-2014

Abstract

ThispaperoutlinesmeteorologicalandglaciologicalobservationsofGlacierNo.31intheSuntar-Khayata Range,eastSiberia,obtainedfrom2012to2014.Wesetupmeteorologicalinstrumentsandsevenstakeson theglacierforthepurposeofmeasuringsurfacemassbalanceandflowvelocity.Themeanairtemperature between July 8, 2012 and August 7, 2013 was-13.9 at site 31-2 (2446m a.s.l.) and the minimum temperaturewas-46.0 .TheairtemperatureontheglacierfromNovembertoAprilwasapproximately 10 higherthanthatatOymyakonvillage,suggestingatemperatureinversionphenomenon,whichtypically occursduringwinterinthisregion.Thesnowdepthrecordsshowthatsnowincreasedatthebeginningand endofwinter,andthattherewasalmostnochangefromthebeginningofOctoberuntiltheendofApril. The maximum snow depth from the previous summer was 158cm at site 31-2 on May 28, 2013. The averageannualsurfacemassbalanceforthe6siteswas-1256mmwaterequivalent(w.e.)duringtheperiod from August 24, 2012 to August 16, 2013, indicating that ablation proceeded rapidly in all areas of the glacier.Surfaceflowvelocityin2013/2014was1.57ma −1 attheapproximatemidpointoftheglacier,andwas much slower than that measured during the IGY (International Geophysical Year) period (4.5ma −1) in 1957/1958.Thelengthandarealextentoftheglacierwere3.85kmand3.2km 2 in1958/1959and3.38kmand 2.27km 2 in2012/2013,respectively,showingadecreaseoverthelast54years.

Glacier Surface Mass Balance in the Suntar-Khayata Mountains, Northeastern Siberia

“…31 during 2012-2014, showed that the mean and minimum air temperatures were −13.9 and −46.0 • C, respectively, while the accumulated precipitation for one year was 342.0 mm year −1 [8]. Most of the snowfall events occur during the months of spring, summer, and early autumn [8,13,16]. Like other Arctic regions, a significant temperature rise has been observed in the SKMs, especially during winter [1,2].…”

“…The SKM glaciers were resurveyed in the summer of 2001 [10], while one-year observations were conducted in the mountain range and surroundings from August 2004 to August 2005 using meteorological instruments and ablation stakes [13]. In recent years, continuous glacier monitoring activities have been conducted on SKM glaciers under different initiatives [8,15], which have attempted to re-establish a glacier monitoring system. For instance, Takeuchi and others [15] conducted field measurements of surface melt, reflectivity, impurity features, and their associated impacts on Glacier No.…”

“…Glacier mass changes in the Suntar-Khayata Mountains (SKMs) of northeastern Siberia, the region with the lowest temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere [7,8], have been less intensively studied than other glacierized regions in the Arctic latitudes due to the scarcity of spatial and temporal observations within the mountain range. In situ measurements have been performed discontinuously on only a few glaciers in the SKMs since the international geophysical year (IGY, 1957(IGY, -1958 [7][8][9][10]. Like most glaciers in other Arctic regions, glaciers in the SKMs have experienced significant retreat and thinning [2,11,12].…”

“…As reported in previous studies [10][11][12][13], 19.3% of glacier area was lost in the SKMs during 1945-2003, and glacier lengths have fluctuated dramatically since the Little Ice Age. Particularly on typical glaciers, mass loss has shown an increasing trend in recent decades [8,10,14].…”

“…Despite recent studies based on remote sensing and short-term observations documenting past glacier fluctuations in response to changes in climate [7,8,10,[12][13][14][15], no model-based reconstructions that have regionally assessed the SMB of the SKM glaciers are currently available. A warming trend is expected to continue in the Arctic in the ensuing decades of this century [2].…”