Articles | Volume 14, issue 11
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3979-2020
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3979-2020
Research article
 | 
13 Nov 2020
Research article |  | 13 Nov 2020

Numerical modeling of the dynamics of the Mer de Glace glacier, French Alps: comparison with past observations and forecasting of near-future evolution

Vincent Peyaud, Coline Bouchayer, Olivier Gagliardini, Christian Vincent, Fabien Gillet-Chaulet, Delphine Six, and Olivier Laarman

Related authors

Geodetic point surface mass balances: a new approach to determine point surface mass balances on glaciers from remote sensing measurements
Christian Vincent, Diego Cusicanqui, Bruno Jourdain, Olivier Laarman, Delphine Six, Adrien Gilbert, Andrea Walpersdorf, Antoine Rabatel, Luc Piard, Florent Gimbert, Olivier Gagliardini, Vincent Peyaud, Laurent Arnaud, Emmanuel Thibert, Fanny Brun, and Ugo Nanni
The Cryosphere, 15, 1259–1276, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1259-2021,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1259-2021, 2021
Short summary
The GRISLI ice sheet model (version 2.0): calibration and validation for multi-millennial changes of the Antarctic ice sheet
Aurélien Quiquet, Christophe Dumas, Catherine Ritz, Vincent Peyaud, and Didier M. Roche
Geosci. Model Dev., 11, 5003–5025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-5003-2018,https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-5003-2018, 2018
Short summary

Related subject area

Discipline: Glaciers | Subject: Alpine Glaciers
Brief communication: Recent estimates of glacier mass loss for western North America from laser altimetry
Brian Menounos, Alex Gardner, Caitlyn Florentine, and Andrew Fountain
The Cryosphere, 18, 889–894, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-889-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-889-2024, 2024
Short summary
The Aneto glacier's (Central Pyrenees) evolution from 1981 to 2022: ice loss observed from historic aerial image photogrammetry and remote sensing techniques
Ixeia Vidaller, Eñaut Izagirre, Luis Mariano del Rio, Esteban Alonso-González, Francisco Rojas-Heredia, Enrique Serrano, Ana Moreno, Juan Ignacio López-Moreno, and Jesús Revuelto
The Cryosphere, 17, 3177–3192, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3177-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3177-2023, 2023
Short summary
Modelling point mass balance for the glaciers of the Central European Alps using machine learning techniques
Ritu Anilkumar, Rishikesh Bharti, Dibyajyoti Chutia, and Shiv Prasad Aggarwal
The Cryosphere, 17, 2811–2828, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2811-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2811-2023, 2023
Short summary
Consistent histories of anthropogenic western European air pollution preserved in different Alpine ice cores
Anja Eichler, Michel Legrand, Theo M. Jenk, Susanne Preunkert, Camilla Andersson, Sabine Eckhardt, Magnuz Engardt, Andreas Plach, and Margit Schwikowski
The Cryosphere, 17, 2119–2137, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2119-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2119-2023, 2023
Short summary
Brief communication: Non-linear sensitivity of glacier mass balance to climate attested by temperature-index models
Christian Vincent and Emmanuel Thibert
The Cryosphere, 17, 1989–1995, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1989-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1989-2023, 2023
Short summary

Cited articles

Berthier, E. and Vincent, C.: Relative contribution of surface mass-balance and ice-flux changes to the accelerated thinning of Mer de Glace, French Alps, over 1979-2008, J. Glaciol., 58, 501–512, https://doi.org/10.3189/2012JoG11J083, 2012. a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m
Berthier, E., Arnaud, Y., Baratoux, D., Vincent, C., and Rémy, F.: Recent rapid thinning of the ”Mer de Glace” glacier derived from satellite optical images, Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, L17401, https://doi.org/10.1029/2004GL020706, 2004. a, b
Berthier, E., Vadon, H., Baratoux, D., Arnaud, Y., Vincent, C., Feigl, K. L., Rémy, F., and Legresy, B.: Surface motion of mountain glaciers derived from satellite optical imagery, Remote Sens. Environ., 95, 14–28, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2004.11.005, 2005. a
Berthier, E., Vincent, C., Magnússon, E., Gunnlaugsson, Á. Þ., Pitte, P., Le Meur, E., Masiokas, M., Ruiz, L., Pálsson, F., Belart, J. M. C., and Wagnon, P.: Glacier topography and elevation changes derived from Pléiades sub-meter stereo images, The Cryosphere, 8, 2275–2291, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-2275-2014, 2014. a
Braithwaite, R. J.: Positive degree-day factors for ablation on the Greenland ice sheet studied by energy-balance modelling, J. Glaciol., 41, 153–160, https://doi.org/10.3189/S0022143000017846, 1995. a
Download
Short summary
Alpine glaciers are retreating at an accelerating rate in a warming climate. Numerical models allow us to study and anticipate these changes, but the performance of a model is difficult to evaluate. So we compared an ice flow model with the long dataset of observations obtained between 1979 and 2015 on Mer de Glace (Mont Blanc area). The model accurately reconstructs the past evolution of the glacier. We simulate the future evolution of Mer de Glace; it could retreat by 2 to 6 km by 2050.