Articles | Volume 10, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1105-2016
© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1105-2016
© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Research article
| 
26 May 2016
Research article |
| 26 May 2016
Modeling debris-covered glaciers: response to steady debris deposition
Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Iceland, Askja,
Sturlugötu 7, 101 Reykjavìk, Iceland
Robert S. Anderson
Institute of Arctic
and Alpine Research, and Department of Geological Sciences, University of
Colorado, Campus Box 450, Boulder, Colorado, CO 80309, USA
Related authors
Matthew C. Morriss, Benjamin Lehmann, Benjamin Campforts, George Brencher, Brianna Rick, Leif S. Anderson, Alexander L. Handwerger, Irina Overeem, and Jeffrey Moore
Earth Surf. Dynam., 11, 1251–1274, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-1251-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-1251-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
In this paper, we investigate the 28 June 2022 collapse of the Chaos Canyon landslide in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, USA. We find that the landslide was moving prior to its collapse and took place at peak spring snowmelt; temperature modeling indicates the potential presence of permafrost. We hypothesize that this landslide could be part of the broader landscape evolution changes to alpine terrain caused by a warming climate, leading to thawing alpine permafrost.
Ian Delaney, Leif Anderson, and Frédéric Herman
Earth Surf. Dynam., 11, 663–680, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-663-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-663-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This paper presents a two-dimensional subglacial sediment transport model that evolves a sediment layer in response to subglacial sediment transport conditions. The model captures sediment transport in supply- and transport-limited regimes across a glacier's bed and considers both the creation and transport of sediment. Model outputs show how the spatial distribution of sediment and water below a glacier can impact the glacier's discharge of sediment and erosion of bedrock.
Deniz Tobias Gök, Dirk Scherler, and Leif Stefan Anderson
The Cryosphere, 17, 1165–1184, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1165-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1165-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We performed high-resolution debris-thickness mapping using land surface temperature (LST) measured from an unpiloted aerial vehicle (UAV) at various times of the day. LSTs from UAVs require calibration that varies in time. We test two approaches to quantify supraglacial debris cover, and we find that the non-linearity of the relationship between LST and debris thickness increases with LST. Choosing the best model to predict debris thickness depends on the time of the day and the terrain aspect.
Leif S. Anderson, William H. Armstrong, Robert S. Anderson, and Pascal Buri
The Cryosphere, 15, 265–282, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-265-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-265-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Many glaciers are thinning rapidly beneath debris cover (loose rock) that reduces melt, including Kennicott Glacier in Alaska. This contradiction has been explained by melt hotspots, such as ice cliffs, scattered within the debris cover. However, at Kennicott Glacier declining ice flow explains the rapid thinning. Through this study, Kennicott Glacier is now the first glacier in Alaska, and the largest glacier globally, where melt across its debris-covered tongue has been rigorously quantified.
Leif S. Anderson, William H. Armstrong, Robert S. Anderson, and Pascal Buri
The Cryosphere Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2019-178, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2019-178, 2019
Preprint withdrawn
Short summary
Short summary
Thick rock cover (or debris) disturbs the melt of many Alaskan glaciers. Yet the effect of debris on glacier thinning in Alaska has been overlooked. In three companion papers we assess the role of debris and ice flow on the thinning of Kennicott Glacier. In Part C we describe feedbacks contributing to rapid thinning under thick debris. Changes in debris thickness downglacier on Kennicott Glacier are manifested in the pattern of glacier thinning, ice dynamics, melt, and glacier surface features.
Leif S. Anderson, Robert S. Anderson, Pascal Buri, and William H. Armstrong
The Cryosphere Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2019-174, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2019-174, 2019
Preprint withdrawn
Short summary
Short summary
Thick rock cover (or debris) disturbs the melt of many Alaskan glaciers. Yet the effect of debris on glacier thinning in Alaska has been overlooked. In three companion papers we assess the role of debris and ice flow on the thinning of Kennicott Glacier. In Part A, we report measurements from the glacier surface. We measured surface debris thickness, melt under debris, and the rate of ice cliff backwasting. These data allow for further studies linking debris to glacier shrinkage in Alaska.
Áslaug Geirsdóttir, Gifford H. Miller, John T. Andrews, David J. Harning, Leif S. Anderson, Christopher Florian, Darren J. Larsen, and Thor Thordarson
Clim. Past, 15, 25–40, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-25-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-25-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Compositing climate proxies in sediment from seven Iceland lakes documents abrupt summer cooling between 4.5 and 4.0 ka, statistically indistinguishable from 4.2 ka. Although the decline in summer insolation was an important factor, a combination of superposed changes in ocean circulation and explosive Icelandic volcanism were likely responsible for the abrupt perturbation recorded by our proxies. Lake and catchment proxies recovered to a colder equilibrium state following the perturbation.
Joaquín M. C. Belart, Etienne Berthier, Eyjólfur Magnússon, Leif S. Anderson, Finnur Pálsson, Thorsteinn Thorsteinsson, Ian M. Howat, Guðfinna Aðalgeirsdóttir, Tómas Jóhannesson, and Alexander H. Jarosch
The Cryosphere, 11, 1501–1517, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-1501-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-1501-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
Sub-meter satellite stereo images (Pléiades and WorldView2) are used to accurately measure snow accumulation and winter mass balance of Drangajökull ice cap. This is done by creating and comparing accurate digital elevation models. A glacier-wide geodetic mass balance of 3.33 ± 0.23 m w.e. is derived between October 2014 and May 2015. This method could be easily transposable to remote glaciated areas where seasonal mass balance measurements (especially winter accumulation) are lacking.
Naomi E. Ochwat, Ted A. Scambos, Alison F. Banwell, Robert S. Anderson, Michelle L. Maclennan, Ghislain Picard, Julia A. Shates, Sebastian Marinsek, Liliana Margonari, Martin Truffer, and Erin C. Pettit
The Cryosphere, 18, 1709–1731, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1709-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1709-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
On the Antarctic Peninsula, there is a small bay that had sea ice fastened to the shoreline (
fast ice) for over a decade. The fast ice stabilized the glaciers that fed into the ocean. In January 2022, the fast ice broke away. Using satellite data we found that this was because of low sea ice concentrations and a high long-period ocean wave swell. We find that the glaciers have responded to this event by thinning, speeding up, and retreating by breaking off lots of icebergs at remarkable rates.
Matthew C. Morriss, Benjamin Lehmann, Benjamin Campforts, George Brencher, Brianna Rick, Leif S. Anderson, Alexander L. Handwerger, Irina Overeem, and Jeffrey Moore
Earth Surf. Dynam., 11, 1251–1274, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-1251-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-1251-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
In this paper, we investigate the 28 June 2022 collapse of the Chaos Canyon landslide in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, USA. We find that the landslide was moving prior to its collapse and took place at peak spring snowmelt; temperature modeling indicates the potential presence of permafrost. We hypothesize that this landslide could be part of the broader landscape evolution changes to alpine terrain caused by a warming climate, leading to thawing alpine permafrost.
Ian Delaney, Leif Anderson, and Frédéric Herman
Earth Surf. Dynam., 11, 663–680, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-663-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-663-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This paper presents a two-dimensional subglacial sediment transport model that evolves a sediment layer in response to subglacial sediment transport conditions. The model captures sediment transport in supply- and transport-limited regimes across a glacier's bed and considers both the creation and transport of sediment. Model outputs show how the spatial distribution of sediment and water below a glacier can impact the glacier's discharge of sediment and erosion of bedrock.
Deniz Tobias Gök, Dirk Scherler, and Leif Stefan Anderson
The Cryosphere, 17, 1165–1184, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1165-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1165-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We performed high-resolution debris-thickness mapping using land surface temperature (LST) measured from an unpiloted aerial vehicle (UAV) at various times of the day. LSTs from UAVs require calibration that varies in time. We test two approaches to quantify supraglacial debris cover, and we find that the non-linearity of the relationship between LST and debris thickness increases with LST. Choosing the best model to predict debris thickness depends on the time of the day and the terrain aspect.
Benjamin Lehmann, Robert S. Anderson, Xavier Bodin, Diego Cusicanqui, Pierre G. Valla, and Julien Carcaillet
Earth Surf. Dynam., 10, 605–633, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-605-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-605-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Rock glaciers are some of the most frequently occurring landforms containing ice in mountain environments. Here, we use field observations, analysis of aerial and satellite images, and dating methods to investigate the activity of the rock glacier of the Vallon de la Route in the French Alps. Our results suggest that the rock glacier is characterized by two major episodes of activity and that the rock glacier system promotes the maintenance of mountain erosion.
Kelly Kochanski, Gregory Tucker, and Robert Anderson
The Cryosphere Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2021-205, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2021-205, 2021
Manuscript not accepted for further review
Short summary
Short summary
Falling snow does not life flat. When blown by the wind, it forms elaborate structures, like dunes. Where these dunes form, they change the way heat flows through the snow. This can accelerate sea ice melt and climate change. Here, we use both field observations obtained during blizzards in Colorado and simulations performed with a state-of-the-art model, to quantify the impact of snow dunes on Arctic heat flows.
Leif S. Anderson, William H. Armstrong, Robert S. Anderson, and Pascal Buri
The Cryosphere, 15, 265–282, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-265-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-265-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Many glaciers are thinning rapidly beneath debris cover (loose rock) that reduces melt, including Kennicott Glacier in Alaska. This contradiction has been explained by melt hotspots, such as ice cliffs, scattered within the debris cover. However, at Kennicott Glacier declining ice flow explains the rapid thinning. Through this study, Kennicott Glacier is now the first glacier in Alaska, and the largest glacier globally, where melt across its debris-covered tongue has been rigorously quantified.
Leif S. Anderson, William H. Armstrong, Robert S. Anderson, and Pascal Buri
The Cryosphere Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2019-178, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2019-178, 2019
Preprint withdrawn
Short summary
Short summary
Thick rock cover (or debris) disturbs the melt of many Alaskan glaciers. Yet the effect of debris on glacier thinning in Alaska has been overlooked. In three companion papers we assess the role of debris and ice flow on the thinning of Kennicott Glacier. In Part C we describe feedbacks contributing to rapid thinning under thick debris. Changes in debris thickness downglacier on Kennicott Glacier are manifested in the pattern of glacier thinning, ice dynamics, melt, and glacier surface features.
Leif S. Anderson, Robert S. Anderson, Pascal Buri, and William H. Armstrong
The Cryosphere Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2019-174, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2019-174, 2019
Preprint withdrawn
Short summary
Short summary
Thick rock cover (or debris) disturbs the melt of many Alaskan glaciers. Yet the effect of debris on glacier thinning in Alaska has been overlooked. In three companion papers we assess the role of debris and ice flow on the thinning of Kennicott Glacier. In Part A, we report measurements from the glacier surface. We measured surface debris thickness, melt under debris, and the rate of ice cliff backwasting. These data allow for further studies linking debris to glacier shrinkage in Alaska.
Kelly Kochanski, Robert S. Anderson, and Gregory E. Tucker
The Cryosphere, 13, 1267–1281, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1267-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1267-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Wind-blown snow does not lie flat. It forms dunes, ripples, and anvil-shaped sastrugi. These features ornament much of the snow on Earth and change the snow's effects on polar climates, but they have rarely been studied. We spent three winters watching snow move through the Colorado Front Range and present our findings here, including the first time-lapse videos of snow dune and sastrugi growth.
Áslaug Geirsdóttir, Gifford H. Miller, John T. Andrews, David J. Harning, Leif S. Anderson, Christopher Florian, Darren J. Larsen, and Thor Thordarson
Clim. Past, 15, 25–40, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-25-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-25-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Compositing climate proxies in sediment from seven Iceland lakes documents abrupt summer cooling between 4.5 and 4.0 ka, statistically indistinguishable from 4.2 ka. Although the decline in summer insolation was an important factor, a combination of superposed changes in ocean circulation and explosive Icelandic volcanism were likely responsible for the abrupt perturbation recorded by our proxies. Lake and catchment proxies recovered to a colder equilibrium state following the perturbation.
Simon L. Pendleton, Gifford H. Miller, Robert A. Anderson, Sarah E. Crump, Yafang Zhong, Alexandra Jahn, and Áslaug Geirsdottir
Clim. Past, 13, 1527–1537, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-1527-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-1527-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
Recent warming in the high latitudes has prompted the accelerated retreat of ice caps and glaciers, especially in the Canadian Arctic. Here we use the radiocarbon age of preserved plants being exposed by shrinking ice caps that once entombed them. These ages help us to constrain the timing and magnitude of climate change on southern Baffin Island over the past ~ 2000 years. Our results show episodic cooling up until ~ 1900 CE, followed by accelerated warming through present.
Joaquín M. C. Belart, Etienne Berthier, Eyjólfur Magnússon, Leif S. Anderson, Finnur Pálsson, Thorsteinn Thorsteinsson, Ian M. Howat, Guðfinna Aðalgeirsdóttir, Tómas Jóhannesson, and Alexander H. Jarosch
The Cryosphere, 11, 1501–1517, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-1501-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-1501-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
Sub-meter satellite stereo images (Pléiades and WorldView2) are used to accurately measure snow accumulation and winter mass balance of Drangajökull ice cap. This is done by creating and comparing accurate digital elevation models. A glacier-wide geodetic mass balance of 3.33 ± 0.23 m w.e. is derived between October 2014 and May 2015. This method could be easily transposable to remote glaciated areas where seasonal mass balance measurements (especially winter accumulation) are lacking.
K. R. Barnhart, I. Overeem, and R. S. Anderson
The Cryosphere, 8, 1777–1799, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-1777-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-1777-2014, 2014
Related subject area
Geomorphology
A climate-driven, altitudinal transition in rock glacier dynamics detected through integration of geomorphological mapping and synthetic aperture radar interferometry (InSAR)-based kinematics
Discriminating viscous-creep features (rock glaciers) in mountain permafrost from debris-covered glaciers – a commented test at the Gruben and Yerba Loca sites, Swiss Alps and Chilean Andes
Dynamical response of the southwestern Laurentide Ice Sheet to rapid Bølling–Allerød warming
The cryostratigraphy of thermo-erosion gullies in the Canadian High Arctic demonstrates the resilience of permafrost
Review article: Retrogressive thaw slump theory and terminology
Assessment of rock glaciers and their water storage in Guokalariju, Tibetan Plateau
In situ 10Be modeling and terrain analysis constrain subglacial quarrying and abrasion rates at Sermeq Kujalleq (Jakobshavn Isbræ), Greenland
Identifying mountain permafrost degradation by repeating historical electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) measurements
Asynchronous glacial dynamics of Last Glacial Maximum mountain glaciers in the Ikh Bogd Massif, Gobi Altai mountain range, southwestern Mongolia: aspect control on glacier mass balance
Permafrost degradation at two monitored palsa mires in north-west Finland
Comment on “Ice content and interannual water storage changes of an active rock glacier in the dry Andes of Argentina” by Halla et al. (2021)
Effects of topographic and meteorological parameters on the surface area loss of ice aprons in the Mont Blanc massif (European Alps)
Contrasted geomorphological and limnological properties of thermokarst lakes formed in buried glacier ice and ice-wedge polygon terrain
Formation of glacier tables caused by differential ice melting: field observation and modelling
Geomorphology and shallow sub-sea-floor structures underneath the Ekström Ice Shelf, Antarctica
Multi-decadal (1953–2017) rock glacier kinematics analysed by high-resolution topographic data in the upper Kaunertal, Austria
High-resolution inventory to capture glacier disintegration in the Austrian Silvretta
Recent degradation of interior Alaska permafrost mapped with ground surveys, geophysics, deep drilling, and repeat airborne lidar
Thaw-driven mass wasting couples slopes with downstream systems, and effects propagate through Arctic drainage networks
Formation of ribbed bedforms below shear margins and lobes of palaeo-ice streams
Ice content and interannual water storage changes of an active rock glacier in the dry Andes of Argentina
Insights into a remote cryosphere: a multi-method approach to assess permafrost occurrence at the Qugaqie basin, western Nyainqêntanglha Range, Tibetan Plateau
A quasi-annual record of time-transgressive esker formation: implications for ice-sheet reconstruction and subglacial hydrology
Permafrost distribution and conditions at the headwalls of two receding glaciers (Schladming and Hallstatt glaciers) in the Dachstein Massif, Northern Calcareous Alps, Austria
Rock glacier characteristics serve as an indirect record of multiple alpine glacier advances in Taylor Valley, Antarctica
Ice-stream flow switching by up-ice propagation of instabilities along glacial marginal troughs
Evaluating the destabilization susceptibility of active rock glaciers in the French Alps
Glacial and geomorphic effects of a supraglacial lake drainage and outburst event, Everest region, Nepal Himalaya
Basal control of supraglacial meltwater catchments on the Greenland Ice Sheet
How dynamic are ice-stream beds?
Subglacial drainage patterns of Devon Island, Canada: detailed comparison of rivers and subglacial meltwater channels
Sub-seasonal thaw slump mass wasting is not consistently energy limited at the landscape scale
Determining the terrain characteristics related to the surface expression of subsurface water pressurization in permafrost landscapes using susceptibility modelling
Permafrost distribution modelling in the semi-arid Chilean Andes
Internal structure of two alpine rock glaciers investigated by quasi-3-D electrical resistivity imaging
Rock glaciers on the run – understanding rock glacier landform evolution and recent changes from numerical flow modeling
The geomorphological effect of cornice fall avalanches in the Longyeardalen valley, Svalbard
An improved bathymetry compilation for the Bellingshausen Sea, Antarctica, to inform ice-sheet and ocean models
Aldo Bertone, Nina Jones, Volkmar Mair, Riccardo Scotti, Tazio Strozzi, and Francesco Brardinoni
The Cryosphere, 18, 2335–2356, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2335-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2335-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Traditional inventories display high uncertainty in discriminating between intact (permafrost-bearing) and relict (devoid) rock glaciers (RGs). Integration of InSAR-based kinematics in South Tyrol affords uncertainty reduction and depicts a broad elevation belt of relict–intact coexistence. RG velocity and moving area (MA) cover increase linearly with elevation up to an inflection at 2600–2800 m a.s.l., which we regard as a signature of sporadic-to-discontinuous permafrost transition.
Wilfried Haeberli, Lukas U. Arenson, Julie Wee, Christian Hauck, and Nico Mölg
The Cryosphere, 18, 1669–1683, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1669-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1669-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Rock glaciers in ice-rich permafrost can be discriminated from debris-covered glaciers. The key physical phenomenon relates to the tight mechanical coupling between the moving frozen body at depth and the surface layer of debris in the case of rock glaciers, as opposed to the virtually inexistent coupling in the case of surface ice with a debris cover. Contact zones of surface ice with subsurface ice in permafrost constitute diffuse landforms beyond either–or-type landform classification.
Sophie L. Norris, Martin Margold, David J. A. Evans, Nigel Atkinson, and Duane G. Froese
The Cryosphere, 18, 1533–1559, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1533-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1533-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Associated with climate change between the Last Glacial Maximum and the current interglacial period, we reconstruct the behaviour of the southwestern Laurentide Ice Sheet, which covered the Canadian Prairies, using detailed landform mapping. Our reconstruction depicts three shifts in the ice sheet’s dynamics. We suggest these changes resulted from ice sheet thinning triggered by abrupt climatic change. However, we show that regional lithology and topography also play an important role.
Samuel Gagnon, Daniel Fortier, Etienne Godin, and Audrey Veillette
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-208, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-208, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Thermo-erosion gullies (TEGs) are one of the most common forms of abrupt permafrost degradation. While their inception has been examined in several studies, the processes of their stabilization remain poorly documented. For this study, we investigated the impacts of two TEGs in the Canadian High Arctic. We found that while the formation of a TEG leaves permanent scars in landscapes, on the long term, permafrost can recover to conditions similar to those pre-dating the initial disturbance.
Nina Nesterova, Marina Leibman, Alexander Kizyakov, Hugues Lantuit, Ilya Tarasevich, Ingmar Nitze, Alexandra Veremeeva, and Guido Grosse
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2914, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2914, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Retrogressive thaw slumps (RTSs) are widespread in the Arctic permafrost landforms. RTSs present a big interest for researchers because of their expansion due to climate change. There are currently different scientific schools and terminology used in the literature on this topic. We have critically reviewed existing concepts and terminology and provided clarifications to present a useful base for experts in the field and ease the introduction to the topic for scientists who are new to it.
Mengzhen Li, Yanmin Yang, Zhaoyu Peng, and Gengnian Liu
The Cryosphere, 18, 1–16, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We map a detailed rock glaciers inventory to further explore the regional distribution controlling factors, water storage, and permafrost probability distribution in Guokalariju. Results show that (i) the distribution of rock glaciers is controlled by the complex composition of topo-climate factors, increases in precipitation are conducive to rock glaciers forming at lower altitudes, and (ii) 1.32–3.60 km3 of water is stored in the rock glaciers, or ~ 59 % of the water glaciers presently store.
Brandon L. Graham, Jason P. Briner, Nicolás E. Young, Allie Balter-Kennedy, Michele Koppes, Joerg M. Schaefer, Kristin Poinar, and Elizabeth K. Thomas
The Cryosphere, 17, 4535–4547, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4535-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4535-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Glacial erosion is a fundamental process operating on Earth's surface. Two processes of glacial erosion, abrasion and plucking, are poorly understood. We reconstructed rates of abrasion and quarrying in Greenland. We derive a total glacial erosion rate of 0.26 ± 0.16 mm per year. We also learned that erosion via these two processes is about equal. Because the site is similar to many other areas covered by continental ice sheets, these results may be applied to many places on Earth.
Johannes Buckel, Jan Mudler, Rainer Gardeweg, Christian Hauck, Christin Hilbich, Regula Frauenfelder, Christof Kneisel, Sebastian Buchelt, Jan Henrik Blöthe, Andreas Hördt, and Matthias Bücker
The Cryosphere, 17, 2919–2940, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2919-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2919-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This study reveals permafrost degradation by repeating old geophysical measurements at three Alpine sites. The compared data indicate that ice-poor permafrost is highly affected by temperature warming. The melting of ice-rich permafrost could not be identified. However, complex geomorphic processes are responsible for this rather than external temperature change. We suspect permafrost degradation here as well. In addition, we introduce a new current injection method for data acquisition.
Purevmaa Khandsuren, Yeong Bae Seong, Hyun Hee Rhee, Cho-Hee Lee, Mehmet Akif Sarikaya, Jeong-Sik Oh, Khadbaatar Sandag, and Byung Yong Yu
The Cryosphere, 17, 2409–2435, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2409-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2409-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Moraine is an awe-inspiring landscape in alpine areas and stores information on past climate. We measured the timing of moraine formation on the Ih Bogd Massif, southern Mongolia. Here, glaciers move synchronously as a response to changing climate; however, our glacier on the northern slope reached its maximum extent 3 millennia after the southern one. We ran a 2D ice surface model and found that the diachronous behavior of glaciers was real. Aspect also controls the mass of alpine glaciers.
Mariana Verdonen, Alexander Störmer, Eliisa Lotsari, Pasi Korpelainen, Benjamin Burkhard, Alfred Colpaert, and Timo Kumpula
The Cryosphere, 17, 1803–1819, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1803-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1803-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The study revealed a stable and even decreasing thickness of thaw depth in peat mounds with perennially frozen cores, despite overall rapid permafrost degradation within 14 years. This means that measuring the thickness of the thawed layer – a commonly used method – is alone insufficient to assess the permafrost conditions in subarctic peatlands. The study showed that climate change is the main driver of these permafrost features’ decay, but its effect depends on the peatland’s local conditions.
W. Brian Whalley
The Cryosphere, 17, 699–700, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-699-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-699-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Examination of recent Google Earth images of glaciers and rock glaciers in the
Dry Andeshas sufficient detail to show surface meltwater pools. These pools have exposures of glacier ice that core the rock glaciers with volume loss. Such pools are seen on debris-covered glaciers and rock glaciers worldwide and cast doubt on the
permafrostorigin of rock glaciers.
Suvrat Kaushik, Ludovic Ravanel, Florence Magnin, Yajing Yan, Emmanuel Trouve, and Diego Cusicanqui
The Cryosphere, 16, 4251–4271, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4251-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4251-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Climate change impacts all parts of the cryosphere but most importantly the smaller ice bodies like ice aprons (IAs). This study is the first attempt on a regional scale to assess the impacts of the changing climate on these small but very important ice bodies. Our study shows that IAs have consistently lost mass over the past decades. The effects of climate variables, particularly temperature and precipitation and topographic factors, were analysed on the loss of IA area.
Stéphanie Coulombe, Daniel Fortier, Frédéric Bouchard, Michel Paquette, Simon Charbonneau, Denis Lacelle, Isabelle Laurion, and Reinhard Pienitz
The Cryosphere, 16, 2837–2857, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2837-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2837-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Buried glacier ice is widespread in Arctic regions that were once covered by glaciers and ice sheets. In this study, we investigated the influence of buried glacier ice on the formation of Arctic tundra lakes on Bylot Island, Nunavut. Our results suggest that initiation of deeper lakes was triggered by the melting of buried glacier ice. Given future climate projections, the melting of glacier ice permafrost could create new aquatic ecosystems and strongly modify existing ones.
Marceau Hénot, Vincent J. Langlois, Jérémy Vessaire, Nicolas Plihon, and Nicolas Taberlet
The Cryosphere, 16, 2617–2628, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2617-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2617-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Glacier tables are structures frequently encountered on temperate glaciers. They consist of a rock supported by a narrow ice foot which forms through differential melting of the ice. In this article, we investigate their formation by following their dynamics on the Mer de Glace (the Alps, France). We explain this phenomenon by a combination of the effect of turbulent flux, short-wave flux and direct solar radiation that sets a critical size above which a rock will form a glacier table.
Astrid Oetting, Emma C. Smith, Jan Erik Arndt, Boris Dorschel, Reinhard Drews, Todd A. Ehlers, Christoph Gaedicke, Coen Hofstede, Johann P. Klages, Gerhard Kuhn, Astrid Lambrecht, Andreas Läufer, Christoph Mayer, Ralf Tiedemann, Frank Wilhelms, and Olaf Eisen
The Cryosphere, 16, 2051–2066, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2051-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2051-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This study combines a variety of geophysical measurements in front of and beneath the Ekström Ice Shelf in order to identify and interpret geomorphological evidences of past ice sheet flow, extent and retreat.
The maximal extent of grounded ice in this region was 11 km away from the continental shelf break.
The thickness of palaeo-ice on the calving front around the LGM was estimated to be at least 305 to 320 m.
We provide essential boundary conditions for palaeo-ice-sheet models.
Fabian Fleischer, Florian Haas, Livia Piermattei, Madlene Pfeiffer, Tobias Heckmann, Moritz Altmann, Jakob Rom, Manuel Stark, Michael H. Wimmer, Norbert Pfeifer, and Michael Becht
The Cryosphere, 15, 5345–5369, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5345-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5345-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We investigate the long-term (1953–2017) morphodynamic changes in rock glaciers in Kaunertal valley, Austria. Using a combination of historical aerial photographs and laser scanning data, we derive information on flow velocities and surface elevation changes. We observe a loss of volume and an acceleration from the late 1990s onwards. We explain this by changes in the meteorological forcing. Individual rock glaciers react to these changes to varying degrees.
Andrea Fischer, Gabriele Schwaizer, Bernd Seiser, Kay Helfricht, and Martin Stocker-Waldhuber
The Cryosphere, 15, 4637–4654, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4637-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4637-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Eastern Alpine glaciers have been receding since the Little Ice Age maximum, but until now the majority of glacier margins could be delineated unambiguously. Today the outlines of totally debris-covered glacier ice are fuzzy and raise the discussion if these features are still glaciers. We investigated the fate of glacier remnants with high-resolution elevation models, analyzing also thickness changes in buried ice. In the past 13 years, the 46 glaciers of Silvretta lost one-third of their area.
Thomas A. Douglas, Christopher A. Hiemstra, John E. Anderson, Robyn A. Barbato, Kevin L. Bjella, Elias J. Deeb, Arthur B. Gelvin, Patricia E. Nelsen, Stephen D. Newman, Stephanie P. Saari, and Anna M. Wagner
The Cryosphere, 15, 3555–3575, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3555-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3555-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Permafrost is actively degrading across high latitudes due to climate warming. We combined thousands of end-of-summer active layer measurements, permafrost temperatures, geophysical surveys, deep borehole drilling, and repeat airborne lidar to quantify permafrost warming and thawing at sites across central Alaska. We calculate the mass of permafrost soil carbon potentially exposed to thaw over the past 7 years (0.44 Pg) is similar to the yearly carbon dioxide emissions of Australia.
Steven V. Kokelj, Justin Kokoszka, Jurjen van der Sluijs, Ashley C. A. Rudy, Jon Tunnicliffe, Sarah Shakil, Suzanne E. Tank, and Scott Zolkos
The Cryosphere, 15, 3059–3081, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3059-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3059-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Climate-driven landslides are transforming glacially conditioned permafrost terrain, coupling slopes with aquatic systems, and triggering a cascade of downstream effects. Nonlinear intensification of thawing slopes is primarily affecting headwater systems where slope sediment yields overwhelm stream transport capacity. The propagation of effects across watershed scales indicates that western Arctic Canada will be an interconnected hotspot of thaw-driven change through the coming millennia.
Jean Vérité, Édouard Ravier, Olivier Bourgeois, Stéphane Pochat, Thomas Lelandais, Régis Mourgues, Christopher D. Clark, Paul Bessin, David Peigné, and Nigel Atkinson
The Cryosphere, 15, 2889–2916, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2889-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2889-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Subglacial bedforms are commonly used to reconstruct past glacial dynamics and investigate processes occuring at the ice–bed interface. Using analogue modelling and geomorphological mapping, we demonstrate that ridges with undulating crests, known as subglacial ribbed bedforms, are ubiquitous features along ice stream corridors. These bedforms provide a tantalizing glimpse into (1) the former positions of ice stream margins, (2) the ice lobe dynamics and (3) the meltwater drainage efficiency.
Christian Halla, Jan Henrik Blöthe, Carla Tapia Baldis, Dario Trombotto Liaudat, Christin Hilbich, Christian Hauck, and Lothar Schrott
The Cryosphere, 15, 1187–1213, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1187-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1187-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
In the semi-arid to arid Andes of Argentina, rock glaciers contain invisible and unknown amounts of ground ice that could become more important in future for the water availability during the dry season. The study shows that the investigated rock glacier represents an important long-term ice reservoir in the dry mountain catchment and that interannual changes of ground ice can store and release significant amounts of annual precipitation.
Johannes Buckel, Eike Reinosch, Andreas Hördt, Fan Zhang, Björn Riedel, Markus Gerke, Antje Schwalb, and Roland Mäusbacher
The Cryosphere, 15, 149–168, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-149-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-149-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This study presents insights into the remote cryosphere of a mountain range at the Tibetan Plateau. Small-scaled studies and field data about permafrost occurrence are very scarce. A multi-method approach (geomorphological mapping, geophysics, InSAR time series analysis) assesses the lower occurrence of permafrost the range of 5350 and 5500 m above sea level (a.s.l.) in the Qugaqie basin. The highest, multiannual creeping rates up to 150 mm/yr are observed on rock glaciers.
Stephen J. Livingstone, Emma L. M. Lewington, Chris D. Clark, Robert D. Storrar, Andrew J. Sole, Isabelle McMartin, Nico Dewald, and Felix Ng
The Cryosphere, 14, 1989–2004, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1989-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1989-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We map series of aligned mounds (esker beads) across central Nunavut, Canada. Mounds are interpreted to have formed roughly annually as sediment carried by subglacial rivers is deposited at the ice margin. Chains of mounds are formed as the ice retreats. This high-resolution (annual) record allows us to constrain the pace of ice retreat, sediment fluxes, and the style of drainage through time. In particular, we suggest that eskers in general record a composite signature of ice-marginal drainage.
Matthias Rode, Oliver Sass, Andreas Kellerer-Pirklbauer, Harald Schnepfleitner, and Christoph Gitschthaler
The Cryosphere, 14, 1173–1186, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1173-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1173-2020, 2020
Kelsey Winsor, Kate M. Swanger, Esther Babcock, Rachel D. Valletta, and James L. Dickson
The Cryosphere, 14, 1–16, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We studied an ice-cored rock glacier in Taylor Valley, Antarctica, coupling ground-penetrating radar analyses with stable isotope and major ion geochemistry of (a) surface ponds and (b) buried clean ice. These analyses indicate that the rock glacier ice is fed by a nearby alpine glacier, recording multiple Holocene to late Pleistocene glacial advances. We demonstrate the potential to use rock glaciers and buried ice, common throughout Antarctica, to map previous glacial extents.
Etienne Brouard and Patrick Lajeunesse
The Cryosphere, 13, 981–996, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-981-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-981-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Modifications in ice-stream networks have major impacts on ice sheet mass balance and global sea level. However, the mechanisms controlling ice-stream switching remain poorly understood. We report a flow switch in an ice-stream system that occurred on the Baffin Island shelf through the erosion of a marginal trough. Up-ice propagation of ice streams through marginal troughs can lead to the piracy of neighboring ice catchments, which induces an adjacent ice-stream switch and shutdown.
Marco Marcer, Charlie Serrano, Alexander Brenning, Xavier Bodin, Jason Goetz, and Philippe Schoeneich
The Cryosphere, 13, 141–155, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-141-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-141-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
This study aims to assess the occurrence of rock glacier destabilization in the French Alps, a process that causes a landslide-like behaviour of permafrost debris slopes. A significant number of the landforms in the region were found to be experiencing destabilization. Multivariate analysis suggested a link between destabilization occurrence and permafrost thaw induced by climate warming. These results call for a regional characterization of permafrost hazards in the context of climate change.
Evan S. Miles, C. Scott Watson, Fanny Brun, Etienne Berthier, Michel Esteves, Duncan J. Quincey, Katie E. Miles, Bryn Hubbard, and Patrick Wagnon
The Cryosphere, 12, 3891–3905, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3891-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3891-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
We use high-resolution satellite imagery and field visits to assess the growth and drainage of a lake on Changri Shar Glacier in the Everest region, and its impact. The lake filled and drained within 3 months, which is a shorter interval than would be detected by standard monitoring protocols, but forced re-routing of major trails in several locations. The water appears to have flowed beneath Changri Shar and Khumbu glaciers in an efficient manner, suggesting pre-existing developed flow paths.
Josh Crozier, Leif Karlstrom, and Kang Yang
The Cryosphere, 12, 3383–3407, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3383-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3383-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Understanding ice sheet surface meltwater routing is important for modeling and predicting ice sheet evolution. We determined that bed topography underlying the Greenland Ice Sheet is the primary influence on 1–10 km scale ice surface topography, and on drainage-basin-scale surface meltwater routing. We provide a simple means of predicting the response of surface meltwater routing to changing ice flow conditions and explore the implications of this for subglacial hydrology.
Damon Davies, Robert G. Bingham, Edward C. King, Andrew M. Smith, Alex M. Brisbourne, Matteo Spagnolo, Alastair G. C. Graham, Anna E. Hogg, and David G. Vaughan
The Cryosphere, 12, 1615–1628, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1615-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1615-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
This paper investigates the dynamics of ice stream beds using repeat geophysical surveys of the bed of Pine Island Glacier, West Antarctica; 60 km of the bed was surveyed, comprising the most extensive repeat ground-based geophysical surveys of an Antarctic ice stream; 90 % of the surveyed bed shows no significant change despite the glacier increasing in speed by up to 40 % over the last decade. This result suggests that ice stream beds are potentially more stable than previously suggested.
Anna Grau Galofre, A. Mark Jellinek, Gordon R. Osinski, Michael Zanetti, and Antero Kukko
The Cryosphere, 12, 1461–1478, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1461-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1461-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Water accumulated at the base of ice sheets is the main driver of glacier acceleration and loss of ice mass in Arctic regions. Previously glaciated landscapes sculpted by this water carry information about how ice sheets collapse and ultimately disappear. The search for these landscapes took us to the high Arctic, to explore channels that formed under kilometers of ice during the last ice age. In this work we describe how subglacial channels look and how they helped to drain an ice sheet.
Simon Zwieback, Steven V. Kokelj, Frank Günther, Julia Boike, Guido Grosse, and Irena Hajnsek
The Cryosphere, 12, 549–564, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-549-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-549-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
We analyse elevation losses at thaw slumps, at which icy sediments are exposed. As ice requires a large amount of energy to melt, one would expect that mass wasting is governed by the available energy. However, we observe very little mass wasting in June, despite the ample energy supply. Also, in summer, mass wasting is not always energy limited. This highlights the importance of other processes, such as the formation of a protective veneer, in shaping mass wasting at sub-seasonal scales.
Jean E. Holloway, Ashley C. A. Rudy, Scott F. Lamoureux, and Paul M. Treitz
The Cryosphere, 11, 1403–1415, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-1403-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-1403-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
Below ground pressurization occurs when there is more moisture in the soil pores than normal, and it can potentially result in landscape degradation. We mapped features that are caused by this overpressurization and generated susceptibility maps to find other areas on the landscape that could be susceptible in the future. The susceptibility maps identified areas that may be sensitive to pressurization and help improve our understanding of potentially hazardous permafrost degradation.
Guillermo F. Azócar, Alexander Brenning, and Xavier Bodin
The Cryosphere, 11, 877–890, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-877-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-877-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
We present in this work a new statistical permafrost distribution model that provided a more detailed, locally adjusted insights into mountain permafrost distribution in the semi-arid Chilean Andes. The results indicate conditions favorable for permafrost presence, can be present in up to about 6.8 % of the study area (1051 km2), especially in the Elqui and Huasco watersheds. This kind of methodological approach used in this research can be replicable in another parts of the Andes.
Adrian Emmert and Christof Kneisel
The Cryosphere, 11, 841–855, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-841-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-841-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
We investigated the internal structure of two alpine rock glaciers to derive information on their development. Through a 3-D mapping of the electrical resistivity distribution of the subsurface, we could detect variations of ice content and delimit frozen and unfrozen structures. Our study shows that the development of the investigated rock glaciers is influenced by not only creep processes and remnant ice from past glaciations but also recently buried ice patches and refreezing meltwater.
Johann Müller, Andreas Vieli, and Isabelle Gärtner-Roer
The Cryosphere, 10, 2865–2886, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2865-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2865-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
Rock glaciers are landforms indicative of permafrost creep and received considerable attention concerning their dynamical and thermal changes. We use a holistic approach to analyze and model the current and long-term dynamical development of two rock glaciers in the Swiss Alps. The modeling results show the impact of variations in temperature and sediment–ice supply on rock glacier evolution and describe proceeding signs of degradation due to climate warming.
M. Eckerstorfer, H. H. Christiansen, L. Rubensdotter, and S. Vogel
The Cryosphere, 7, 1361–1374, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-1361-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-1361-2013, 2013
A. G. C. Graham, F. O. Nitsche, and R. D. Larter
The Cryosphere, 5, 95–106, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-5-95-2011, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-5-95-2011, 2011
Cited articles
Anderson, L. S.: Glacier response to climate change: modeling the effects of weather and debris-cover, PhD thesis, University of Colorado, Boulder, 175 pp., 2014.
Anderson, L. S., Roe, G. H., and Anderson, R. S.: The effects of interannual climate variability on the moraine record, Geology, 42, 55–58, 2014.
Anderson, R. S.: A model of ablation-dominated medial moraines and the generation of debris-mantled glacier terms, J. Glaciol., 46, 459–469, https://doi.org/10.3189/172756500781833025, 2000.
Arsenault, A. M. and Meigs, A. J.: Contribution of deep-seated bedrock landslides to erosion of a glaciated basin in southern Alaska, Earth Surf. Proc. Land., 30, 1111–1125, https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.1265, 2005.
Ballantyne, C. K. and Harris, C.: The Periglaciation of Great Britain, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 335 pp., 1994.
Banerjee, A. and Shankar, R.: On the response of Himalayan glaciers to climate change, J. Glaciol., 59, 480–490, 2013.
Benn, D. and Evans, D. J. A.: Glaciers and Glaciation, Routledge, London, UK, 802 pp., 2010.
Benn, D. I. and Owen, L. A.: Himalayan glacial sedimentary environments: a framework for reconstructing and dating the former extent of glaciers in high mountains, Quatern. Int., 97–98, 3–25, https://doi.org/10.1016/S1040-6182(02)00048-4, 2002.
Benn, D., Bolch, T., Hands, K., Gulley, J., Luckman, A., Nicholson, L., Quincey, D., Thompson, S., Toumi, R., and Wiseman, S.: Response of debris-covered glaciers in the Mount Everest region to recent warming, and implications for outburst flood hazards, Earth-Sci. Rev., 114, 156–174, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2012.03.008, 2012.
Bolch, T., Pieczonka, T., and Benn, D. I.: Multi-decadal mass loss of glaciers in the Everest area (Nepal Himalaya) derived from stereo imagery, The Cryosphere, 5, 349–358, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-5-349-2011, 2011.
Bolch, T., Kulkarni, A. and Kääb, A., Huggel, C., Paul, F., Cogley, J. G., Frey, H., Kargel, J. S., Fujita, K., Scheel, M., Bajracharya, S. and Stoffel, M.: The State and Fate of Himalayan Glaciers, Science, 336, 310–314, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1215828, 2012.
Boulton, G. S. and Eyles, N.: Sedimentation by valley glaciers: a model and genetic classification, Moraines and Varves, 33, 11–23, 1979.
Bozhinskiy, A. N., Krass, M. S., and Popovnin, V. V.: Role of debris cover in the thermal physics of glaciers, J. Glaciol., 32, 255–266, 1986.
Brook, M., Hagg, W., and Winkler, S.: Debris cover and surface melt at a temperate maritime alpine glacier: Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand, New Zeal. J. Geol. Geop., 56, 27–38, https://doi.org/10.1080/00288306.2012.736391, 2013.
Budd, W. and Jenssen, D.: Numerical modelling of glacier systems, IAHS-AISH P., 104, 257–291, 1975.
Clark, D. H., Clark, M. M., and Gillespie, A. R.: Debris-covered glaciers in the Sierra Nevada, California, and their implications for snowline reconstructions, Quaternary Res., 41, 139–153, 1994.
Conway, H. and Rasmussen, L. A.: Summer temperature profiles within supraglacial debris on Khumbu Glacier, Nepal, in: Debris-covered Glaciers: Proceedings of an International Workshop Held at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, USA, 13–15 September 2000, IAHS Publication 264, p. 289, 2000.
Cuffey, K. and Paterson, W.: The Physics of Glaciers, Elsevier, Oxford, UK, 4th edn., 704 pp., 2010.
Deline, P.: Interactions between rock avalanches and glaciers in the Mont Blanc massif during the late Holocene, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 28, 1070–1083, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2008.09.025, 2009.
Eyles, N. and Rogerson, R. J.: A framework for the investigation of medial moraine formation: Austerdalsbreen, Norway, and Berendon Glacier, British Columbia, Canada, J. Glaciol., 20, 99–113, 1978.
Fyffe, C. L.: The hydrology of debris-covered glaciers, PhD thesis, University of Dundee, UK, 352 pp., 2012.
Gardner, J. S. and Hewitt, K.: A surge of Bualtar Glacier, Karakoram Range, Pakistan: a possible landslide trigger, J. Glaciol., 36, 159–162, 1990.
Hagg, W., Mayer, C., Lambrecht, A., and Helm, A.: Sub-debris melt rates on Southern Inylchek Glacier, Central Tian Shan, Geogr. Ann. A, 90, 55–63, 2008.
Hambrey, M. J. and Quincey, D. J., Glasser, N. F., Reynolds, J. M., Richardson, S. J. and Clemmens, S.: Sedimentological, geomorphological and dynamic context of debris-mantled glaciers, Mount Everest (Sagarmatha) region, Nepal, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 27, 2361-2389, 2008.
Heimsath, A. M. and McGlynn, R.: Quantifying periglacial erosion in the Nepal high Himalaya, Geomorphology, 97, 5–23, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2007.02.046, 2008.
Hooke, R. L. and Hudleston, P. J.: Origin of foliation in glaciers, J. Glaciol., 20, 285–299, 1978.
Humlum, O.: The geomorphic significance of rock glaciers: estimates of rock glacier debris volumes and headwall recession rates in West Greenland, Geomorphology, 35, 41–67, 2000.
Humlum, O.: Holocene permafrost aggradation in Svalbard, Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 242, 119–129, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2005.242.01.11, 2005.
Kääb, A., Berthier, E., Nuth, C., Gardelle, J. and Arnaud, Y.: Contrasting patterns of early twenty-first-century glacier mass change in the Himalayas, Nature, 488, 495-498, 2012.
Kayasha, R., Takeuchi, Y., Nakawo, M., and Ageta, Y.: Practical prediction of ice melting beneath various thicknesses of debris cover on Kumbu Glacier, Nepal, using a positive degree-day factor, in: Debris-covered Glaciers: Proceedings of an International Workshop Held at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, USA, 13–15 September 2000, IAHS Publication 264, p. 289, 2000.
Kessler, M. A., Anderson, R. S., and Stock, G. M.: Modeling topographic and climatic control of east-west asymmetry in Sierra Nevada glacier length during the Last Glacial Maximum, J. Geophys. Res., 111, F02002, https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JF000365, 2006.
Khan, M. I.: Ablation on Barpu glacier, Karakoram Himalaya, Pakistan a study of melt processes on a faceted, debris-covered ice surface, PhD thesis, Wilfrid Laurier University, USA, 1989.
Kirkbride, M. P.: The temporal significance of transitions from melting to calving termini at glaciers in the central Southern Alps of New Zealand, Holocene, 3, 232–240, https://doi.org/10.1177/095968369300300305, 1993.
Kirkbride, M. P.: Debris-covered glaciers, in: Encyclopedia of snow, ice and glaciers, edited by: Singh, V., Singh, P., and Haritashya, U. K., Springer, Dordrecht, 190–191, 2011.
Kirkbride, M. P. and Deline, P.: The formation of supraglacial debris covers by primary dispersal from transverse englacial debris bands, Earth Surf. Proc. Land., 38, 1779–1792, https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.3416, 2013.
Konrad, S. K. and Humphrey, N. F.: Steady-state flow model of debris-covered glaciers (rock glaciers), in: Debris-covered Glaciers: Proceedings of an International Workshop Held at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, USA, 13–15 September 2000, 255–266, 2000.
Leysinger Vieli, G. J. M. C. and Gudmundsson, G. H.: On estimating length fluctuations of glaciers caused by changes in climatic forcing, J. Geophys. Res., 109, 1-14, 2004.
Loomis, S. R.: Morphology and ablation processes on glacier ice. Part 1, Morphology and structure of an ice-cored medial moraine, Kaskawulsh Glacier, Yukon, Arctic Institute of North America, Research Paper, 1–65, 1970.
Lukas, S., Nicholson, L. I., Ross, F. H., and Humlum, O.: Formation, meltout processes and landscape alteration of high-Arctic ice-cored moraines examples from Nordenskiold Land, Central Spitsbergen, Polar Geography, 29, 157–187, https://doi.org/10.1080/789610198, 2005.
Lundstrom, S. C.: The budget and effect of superglacial debris on Eliot Glacier, Mount Hood, Oregon, PhD thesis, University of Colorado, Boulder, 183 pp., 1993.
MacGregor, K. R., Anderson, R. S., and Waddington, E. D.: Numerical simulations of glacial-valley longitudinal profile evolution, Geology, 28, 1031–1034, 2000.
Marshall, S. J., Bjornsson, H., Flowers, G. E., and Clarke, G. K. C.: Simulation of Vatnajökull ice cap dynamics, J. Geophys. Res., 110, 126–135, https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JF000262, 2005.
Mattson, L. E., Gardner, J. S., and Young, G. J.: Ablation on debris covered glaciers: an example from the Rakhiot Glacier, Punjab, Himalaya, in: Snow and Glacier Hydrology (Proceedings of the Kathmandu Symposium), Kathmandu, November 1992, IAHS Publication, 218, 289–296, 1993.
Meier, M. and Post, A.: Recent Variations in mass net budgets of glaciers in western North America, IASH-AISH P., 58, 63–77, 1962.
Menounos, B., Clague, J. J., Clarke, G. K. C., Marcott, S. A., Osborn, G., Clark, P. U., Tennant, C., and Novak, A. M.: Did rock avalanche deposits modulate the late Holocene advance of Tiedemann Glacier, southern Coast Mountains, British Columbia, Canada?, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 384, 154–164, 2013.
Messerli, B. and Zurbuchen, M.: Block-gletscher im Weissmies und Aletsch und ihre photogrammetrische Kartierung, Die Alpen, 3, 139–152, 1968.
Mihalcea, C., Mayer, C., Diolaiuti, G., Lambrecht, A., Smiraglia, C., and Tartari, G.: Ice ablation and meteorological conditions on the debris-covered area of Baltoro glacier, Karakoram, Pakistan, Ann. Glaciol., 43, 292–300, 2006.
Molnar, P., Anderson, R. S., and Anderson, S. P.: Tectonics, fracturing of rock, and erosion, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 112, 1–12, https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JF000433, 2007.
Naito, N., Nakawo, M., Kadota, T., and Raymond, C. F.: Numerical simulation of recent shrinkage of Khuinbu Glacier, Nepal Himalayas, in: Debris-covered Glaciers: Proceedings of an International Workshop Held at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, USA, 13–15 September 2000, 264, p. 245, IAHS, 2000.
Nicholson, L. and Benn, D. I.: Calculating ice melt beneath a debris layer using meteorological data, J. Glaciol., 52, 463–470, 2006.
Nye, J. F.: A numerical method of inferring the budget history of a glacier from its advance and retreat, J. Glaciol., 5, 589–607, 1965.
Østrem, G.: Ice melting under a thin layer of moraine, and the existence of ice cores in moraine ridges, Geogr. Ann. Ser. A, Phys. Geogr., 228–230, 1959.
Oerlemans, J.: An attempt to simulate historic front variations of Nigardsbreen, Norway, Theor. Appl. Climatol., 135, 126–135, 1986.
O'Farrell, C. R. O., Heimsath, A. M., Lawson, D. E., Jorgensen, L. M., Evenson, E. B., Larson, G., and Denner, J.: Quantifying periglacial erosion: insights on a glacial sediment budget, Matanuska Glacier, Alaska, Earth Surf. Proc. Land., 34, 2008–2022, 2009.
Ouimet, W. B., Whipple, K. X., and Granger, D. E.: Beyond threshold hillslopes: channel adjustment to base-level fall in tectonically active mountain ranges, Geology, 37, 579–582, https://doi.org/10.1130/G30013A.1, 2009.
Owen, L. A. and Derbyshire, E.: The Karakoram glacial depositional system, Z. Geomorphol. Supp., 76, 33–73, 1989.
Owen, L. A., Derbyshire, E., and Scott, C. H.: Contemporary sediment production and transfer in high-altitude glaciers, Sediment. Geol., 155, 13–36, 2003.
Raper, S. C. B. and Braithwaite, R. J.: Low sea level rise projections from mountain glaciers and icecaps under global warming, Nature, 439, 311–313, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04448, 2006.
Reid, T. D. and Brock, B. W.: An energy-balance model for debris-covered glaciers including heat conduction through the debris layer, J. Glaciol., 56, 903–916, https://doi.org/10.3189/002214310794457218, 2010.
Reid, T. D. and Brock, B. W.: Assessing ice-cliff backwasting and its contribution to total ablation of debris-covered Miage glacier, Mont Blanc massif, Italy, J. Glaciol., 60, 3–13, 2014.
Reznichenko, N. V., Davies, T. R. H., and Alexander, D. J.: Effects of rock avalanches on glacier behaviour and moraine formation, Geomorphology, 132, 327–338, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2011.05.019, 2011.
Roe, G. H. and Neal, M. A. O.: The response of glaciers to intrinsic climate variability: observations and models of late-Holocene variations in the Pacific Northwest, J. Glaciol., 55, 839–854, 2009.
Rowan, A. V., Egholm, D. L., Quincey, D. J. and Glasser, N. F.: Modelling the feedbacks between mass balance, ice flow and debris transport to predict the response to climate change of debris-covered glaciers in the Himalaya, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 430, 427-438, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2015.09.004, 2015.
Scherler, D.: Climatic limits to headwall retreat in the Khumbu Himalaya, eastern Nepal, Geology, https://doi.org/10.1130/G35975.1, 2014.
Scherler, D., Bookhagen, B., and Strecker, M. R.: Spatially variable response of Himalayan glaciers to climate change affected by debris cover, Nat. Geosci., 4, 156–159, https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1068, 2011a.
Scherler, D., Bookhagen, B., and Strecker, M. R.: Hillslope-glacier coupling: the interplay of topography and glacial dynamics in High Asia, J. Geophys. Res., 116, F02019, https://doi.org/10.1029/2010JF001751, 2011b.
Shea, J. M., Immerzeel, W. W., Wagnon, P., Vincent, C., and Bajracharya, S.: Modelling glacier change in the Everest region, Nepal Himalaya, The Cryosphere, 9, 1105–1128, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1105-2015, 2015.
Shroder, J. F., Shroder, J. F., Bishop, M. P., Bishop, M. P., Copland, L., Copland, L., Sloan, V. F., and Sloan, V. F.: Debris-covered glaciers and rock glaciers in the Nanga Parbat Himalaya, Pakistan, Geogr. Ann. A, 82, 17–31, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0435-3676.2000.00108.x, 2000.
Shugar, D. H., Rabus, B. T., Clague, J. J., and Capps, D. M.: The response of Black Rapids Glacier, Alaska, to the Denali earthquake rock avalanches, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 117, 1–14, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JF002011, 2012.
Smolarkiewicz, P. K.: A simple positive definite advection scheme with small implicit diffusion, Mon. Weather Rev., 111, 479–486, 1983.
Stock, J. D. and Montgomery, D. R.: Geologic constraints on bedrock river incision using the stream power law, J. Geophys. Res., 104, 4983, https://doi.org/10.1029/98JB02139, 1999.
Vacco, D. A., Alley, R. B., and Pollard, D.: Glacial advance and stagnation caused by rock avalanches, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 294, 123–130, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2010.03.019, 2010.
Waddington, E. D.: Accurate modelling of glacier flow, PhD thesis, University of British Columbia, Canada, 460 pp., 1981.
Wagnon, P., Vincent, C., Arnaud, Y., Berthier, E., Vuillermoz, E., Gruber, S., Ménégoz, M., Gilbert, A., Dumont, M., Shea, J. M., Stumm, D., and Pokhrel, B. K.: Seasonal and annual mass balances of Mera and Pokalde glaciers (Nepal Himalaya) since 2007, The Cryosphere, 7, 1769–1786, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-1769-2013, 2013.
Wang, L., Li, Z., and Wang, F.: Spatial distribution of the debris layer on glaciers of the Tuomuer Peak, western Tian Shan, J. Earth Sci., 22, 528–538, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-011-0205-6, 2011.
Ward, D. J. and Anderson, R. S.: The use of ablation-dominated medial moraines as samplers for 10Be-derived erosion rates of glacier valley walls, Kichatna Mountains, AK, Earth Surf. Proc. Land., 36, 495–512, https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.2068, 2011.
WGMS: Global glacier changes: facts and figures, edited by: Zemp, M., Roer, I., Kääb, A., Hoelzle, M., Paul, F., and Haerberli, W., UNEP, World Glacier Monitoring Service, Zürich, 45 pp., 2008.
Short summary
Mountains erode and shed rocks down slope. When these rocks (debris) fall on glacier ice they can suppress ice melt. By protecting glaciers from melt, debris can make glaciers extend to lower elevations. Using mathematical models of glaciers and debris deposition, we find that debris can more than double the length of glaciers. The amount of debris deposited on the glacier, which scales with mountain height and steepness, is the most important control on debris-covered glacier length and volume.
Mountains erode and shed rocks down slope. When these rocks (debris) fall on glacier ice they...
