Articles | Volume 15, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-265-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-265-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
19 Jan 2021
Research article |
| 19 Jan 2021
| 19 Jan 2021
Debris cover and the thinning of Kennicott Glacier, Alaska: in situ measurements, automated ice cliff delineation and distributed melt estimates
Department of Geological Sciences and Institute of Arctic and Alpine
Research, University of Colorado Campus Box 450, Boulder, CO 80309-0450, USA
GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Telegrafenberg, 14473
Potsdam, Germany
William H. Armstrong
Department of Geological Sciences and Institute of Arctic and Alpine
Research, University of Colorado Campus Box 450, Boulder, CO 80309-0450, USA
Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Appalachian State
University, 033 Rankin Science West, ASU Box 32067, Boone, NC 28608-2067,
USA
Robert S. Anderson
Department of Geological Sciences and Institute of Arctic and Alpine
Research, University of Colorado Campus Box 450, Boulder, CO 80309-0450, USA
Pascal Buri
Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska-Fairbanks, 2156 Koyukuk
Drive, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA
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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.
Many glaciers are thinning rapidly beneath debris cover (loose rock) that reduces melt,...
