Articles | Volume 17, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2533-2023
© Author(s) 2023. 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-17-2533-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Brief communication: Rapid ∼ 335 × 106 m3 bed erosion after detachment of the Sedongpu Glacier (Tibet)
Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, 0316, Norway
Luc Girod
Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, 0316, Norway
Related authors
Tazio Strozzi, Erik Schytt Mannerfelt, Oliver Cartus, Maurizio Santoro, Thomas Schellenberger, and Andreas Kääb
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5011, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5011, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for The Cryosphere (TC).
Short summary
Short summary
By analysing 30 years of satellite SAR data, we have found that the number of glacier surges over Svalbard has tripled since 2015. We show that this increase is unlikely to be explained solely by improvements in data quality or by random fluctuations in surge frequency, suggesting that this trend is caused by an external forcing mechanism. Given our incomplete understanding of surge initiation, the cause of the observed threefold increase remains however uncertain.
Diego Cusicanqui, Pascal Lacroix, Xavier Bodin, Benjamin Aubrey Robson, Andreas Kääb, and Shelley MacDonell
The Cryosphere, 19, 2559–2581, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-2559-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-2559-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study presents a robust methodological approach to detect and analyse rock glacier kinematics using Landsat 7/Landsat 8 imagery. In the semiarid Andes, 382 landforms were monitored, showing an average velocity of 0.37 ± 0.07 m yr⁻¹ over 24 years, with rock glaciers moving 23 % faster. Results demonstrate the feasibility of using medium-resolution optical imagery, combined with radar interferometry, to monitor rock glacier kinematics with widely available satellite datasets.
Juditha Aga, Livia Piermattei, Luc Girod, Kristoffer Aalstad, Trond Eiken, Andreas Kääb, and Sebastian Westermann
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 1049–1070, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1049-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1049-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Coastal rock cliffs on Svalbard are considered to be fairly stable; however, long-term trends in coastal-retreat rates remain unknown. This study examines changes in the coastline position along Brøggerhalvøya, Svalbard, using aerial images from 1970, 1990, 2010, and 2021. Our analysis shows that coastal-retreat rates accelerate during the period 2010–2021, which coincides with increasing storminess and retreating sea ice.
Livia Piermattei, Michael Zemp, Christian Sommer, Fanny Brun, Matthias H. Braun, Liss M. Andreassen, Joaquín M. C. Belart, Etienne Berthier, Atanu Bhattacharya, Laura Boehm Vock, Tobias Bolch, Amaury Dehecq, Inés Dussaillant, Daniel Falaschi, Caitlyn Florentine, Dana Floricioiu, Christian Ginzler, Gregoire Guillet, Romain Hugonnet, Matthias Huss, Andreas Kääb, Owen King, Christoph Klug, Friedrich Knuth, Lukas Krieger, Jeff La Frenierre, Robert McNabb, Christopher McNeil, Rainer Prinz, Louis Sass, Thorsten Seehaus, David Shean, Désirée Treichler, Anja Wendt, and Ruitang Yang
The Cryosphere, 18, 3195–3230, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3195-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3195-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Satellites have made it possible to observe glacier elevation changes from all around the world. In the present study, we compared the results produced from two different types of satellite data between different research groups and against validation measurements from aeroplanes. We found a large spread between individual results but showed that the group ensemble can be used to reliably estimate glacier elevation changes and related errors from satellite data.
Sebastian Westermann, Thomas Ingeman-Nielsen, Johanna Scheer, Kristoffer Aalstad, Juditha Aga, Nitin Chaudhary, Bernd Etzelmüller, Simon Filhol, Andreas Kääb, Cas Renette, Louise Steffensen Schmidt, Thomas Vikhamar Schuler, Robin B. Zweigel, Léo Martin, Sarah Morard, Matan Ben-Asher, Michael Angelopoulos, Julia Boike, Brian Groenke, Frederieke Miesner, Jan Nitzbon, Paul Overduin, Simone M. Stuenzi, and Moritz Langer
Geosci. Model Dev., 16, 2607–2647, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-2607-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-2607-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The CryoGrid community model is a new tool for simulating ground temperatures and the water and ice balance in cold regions. It is a modular design, which makes it possible to test different schemes to simulate, for example, permafrost ground in an efficient way. The model contains tools to simulate frozen and unfrozen ground, snow, glaciers, and other massive ice bodies, as well as water bodies.
Fuming Xie, Shiyin Liu, Yongpeng Gao, Yu Zhu, Tobias Bolch, Andreas Kääb, Shimei Duan, Wenfei Miao, Jianfang Kang, Yaonan Zhang, Xiran Pan, Caixia Qin, Kunpeng Wu, Miaomiao Qi, Xianhe Zhang, Ying Yi, Fengze Han, Xiaojun Yao, Qiao Liu, Xin Wang, Zongli Jiang, Donghui Shangguan, Yong Zhang, Richard Grünwald, Muhammad Adnan, Jyoti Karki, and Muhammad Saifullah
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 847–867, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-847-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-847-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, first we generated inventories which allowed us to systematically detect glacier change patterns in the Karakoram range. We found that, by the 2020s, there were approximately 10 500 glaciers in the Karakoram mountains covering an area of 22 510.73 km2, of which ~ 10.2 % is covered by debris. During the past 30 years (from 1990 to 2020), the total glacier cover area in Karakoram remained relatively stable, with a slight increase in area of 23.5 km2.
Maximillian Van Wyk de Vries, Shashank Bhushan, Mylène Jacquemart, César Deschamps-Berger, Etienne Berthier, Simon Gascoin, David E. Shean, Dan H. Shugar, and Andreas Kääb
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 3309–3327, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-3309-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-3309-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
On 7 February 2021, a large rock–ice avalanche occurred in Chamoli, Indian Himalaya. The resulting debris flow swept down the nearby valley, leaving over 200 people dead or missing. We use a range of satellite datasets to investigate how the collapse area changed prior to collapse. We show that signs of instability were visible as early 5 years prior to collapse. However, it would likely not have been possible to predict the timing of the event from current satellite datasets.
Frank Paul, Livia Piermattei, Désirée Treichler, Lin Gilbert, Luc Girod, Andreas Kääb, Ludivine Libert, Thomas Nagler, Tazio Strozzi, and Jan Wuite
The Cryosphere, 16, 2505–2526, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2505-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2505-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Glacier surges are widespread in the Karakoram and have been intensely studied using satellite data and DEMs. We use time series of such datasets to study three glacier surges in the same region of the Karakoram. We found strongly contrasting advance rates and flow velocities, maximum velocities of 30 m d−1, and a change in the surge mechanism during a surge. A sensor comparison revealed good agreement, but steep terrain and the two smaller glaciers caused limitations for some of them.
Bas Altena, Andreas Kääb, and Bert Wouters
The Cryosphere, 16, 2285–2300, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2285-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2285-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Repeat overflights of satellites are used to estimate surface displacements. However, such products lack a simple error description for individual measurements, but variation in precision occurs, since the calculation is based on the similarity of texture. Fortunately, variation in precision manifests itself in the correlation peak, which is used for the displacement calculation. This spread is used to make a connection to measurement precision, which can be of great use for model inversion.
Isabelle Gärtner-Roer, Nina Brunner, Reynald Delaloye, Wilfried Haeberli, Andreas Kääb, and Patrick Thee
The Cryosphere, 16, 2083–2101, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2083-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2083-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We intensely investigated the Gruben site in the Swiss Alps, where glaciers and permafrost landforms closely interact, to better understand cold-climate environments. By the interpretation of air photos from 5 decades, we describe long-term developments of the existing landforms. In combination with high-resolution positioning measurements and ground surface temperatures, we were also able to link these to short-term changes and describe different landform responses to climate forcing.
Tazio Strozzi, Andreas Wiesmann, Andreas Kääb, Thomas Schellenberger, and Frank Paul
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2022-44, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2022-44, 2022
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary
Short summary
Knowledge on surface velocity of glaciers and ice caps contributes to a better understanding of a wide range of processes related to glacier dynamics, mass change and response to climate. Based on the release of historical satellite radar data from various space agencies we compiled nearly complete mosaics of winter ice surface velocities for the 1990's over the Eastern Arctic. Compared to the present state, we observe a general increase of ice velocities along with a retreat of glacier fronts.
Paul Willem Leclercq, Andreas Kääb, and Bas Altena
The Cryosphere, 15, 4901–4907, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4901-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4901-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
In this study we present a novel method to detect glacier surge activity. Surges are relevant as they disturb the link between glacier change and climate, and studying surges can also increase understanding of glacier flow. We use variations in Sentinel-1 radar backscatter strength, calculated with the use of Google Earth Engine, to detect surge activity. In our case study for the year 2018–2019 we find 69 cases of surging glaciers globally. Many of these were not previously known to be surging.
Andreas Kääb, Mylène Jacquemart, Adrien Gilbert, Silvan Leinss, Luc Girod, Christian Huggel, Daniel Falaschi, Felipe Ugalde, Dmitry Petrakov, Sergey Chernomorets, Mikhail Dokukin, Frank Paul, Simon Gascoin, Etienne Berthier, and Jeffrey S. Kargel
The Cryosphere, 15, 1751–1785, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1751-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1751-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Hardly recognized so far, giant catastrophic detachments of glaciers are a rare but great potential for loss of lives and massive damage in mountain regions. Several of the events compiled in our study involve volumes (up to 100 million m3 and more), avalanche speeds (up to 300 km/h), and reaches (tens of kilometres) that are hard to imagine. We show that current climate change is able to enhance associated hazards. For the first time, we elaborate a set of factors that could cause these events.
Andreas Kääb, Tazio Strozzi, Tobias Bolch, Rafael Caduff, Håkon Trefall, Markus Stoffel, and Alexander Kokarev
The Cryosphere, 15, 927–949, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-927-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-927-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We present a map of rock glacier motion over parts of the northern Tien Shan and time series of surface speed for six of them over almost 70 years.
This is by far the most detailed investigation of this kind available for central Asia.
We detect a 2- to 4-fold increase in rock glacier motion between the 1950s and present, which we attribute to atmospheric warming.
Relative to the shrinking glaciers in the region, this implies increased importance of periglacial sediment transport.
Andreas Alexander, Jaroslav Obu, Thomas V. Schuler, Andreas Kääb, and Hanne H. Christiansen
The Cryosphere, 14, 4217–4231, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4217-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4217-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
In this study we present subglacial air, ice and sediment temperatures from within the basal drainage systems of two cold-based glaciers on Svalbard during late spring and the summer melt season. We put the data into the context of air temperature and rainfall at the glacier surface and show the importance of surface events on the subglacial thermal regime and erosion around basal drainage channels. Observed vertical erosion rates thereby reachup to 0.9 m d−1.
Tazio Strozzi, Erik Schytt Mannerfelt, Oliver Cartus, Maurizio Santoro, Thomas Schellenberger, and Andreas Kääb
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5011, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5011, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for The Cryosphere (TC).
Short summary
Short summary
By analysing 30 years of satellite SAR data, we have found that the number of glacier surges over Svalbard has tripled since 2015. We show that this increase is unlikely to be explained solely by improvements in data quality or by random fluctuations in surge frequency, suggesting that this trend is caused by an external forcing mechanism. Given our incomplete understanding of surge initiation, the cause of the observed threefold increase remains however uncertain.
Diego Cusicanqui, Pascal Lacroix, Xavier Bodin, Benjamin Aubrey Robson, Andreas Kääb, and Shelley MacDonell
The Cryosphere, 19, 2559–2581, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-2559-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-2559-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study presents a robust methodological approach to detect and analyse rock glacier kinematics using Landsat 7/Landsat 8 imagery. In the semiarid Andes, 382 landforms were monitored, showing an average velocity of 0.37 ± 0.07 m yr⁻¹ over 24 years, with rock glaciers moving 23 % faster. Results demonstrate the feasibility of using medium-resolution optical imagery, combined with radar interferometry, to monitor rock glacier kinematics with widely available satellite datasets.
Juditha Aga, Livia Piermattei, Luc Girod, Kristoffer Aalstad, Trond Eiken, Andreas Kääb, and Sebastian Westermann
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 1049–1070, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1049-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1049-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Coastal rock cliffs on Svalbard are considered to be fairly stable; however, long-term trends in coastal-retreat rates remain unknown. This study examines changes in the coastline position along Brøggerhalvøya, Svalbard, using aerial images from 1970, 1990, 2010, and 2021. Our analysis shows that coastal-retreat rates accelerate during the period 2010–2021, which coincides with increasing storminess and retreating sea ice.
Livia Piermattei, Michael Zemp, Christian Sommer, Fanny Brun, Matthias H. Braun, Liss M. Andreassen, Joaquín M. C. Belart, Etienne Berthier, Atanu Bhattacharya, Laura Boehm Vock, Tobias Bolch, Amaury Dehecq, Inés Dussaillant, Daniel Falaschi, Caitlyn Florentine, Dana Floricioiu, Christian Ginzler, Gregoire Guillet, Romain Hugonnet, Matthias Huss, Andreas Kääb, Owen King, Christoph Klug, Friedrich Knuth, Lukas Krieger, Jeff La Frenierre, Robert McNabb, Christopher McNeil, Rainer Prinz, Louis Sass, Thorsten Seehaus, David Shean, Désirée Treichler, Anja Wendt, and Ruitang Yang
The Cryosphere, 18, 3195–3230, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3195-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3195-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Satellites have made it possible to observe glacier elevation changes from all around the world. In the present study, we compared the results produced from two different types of satellite data between different research groups and against validation measurements from aeroplanes. We found a large spread between individual results but showed that the group ensemble can be used to reliably estimate glacier elevation changes and related errors from satellite data.
Sebastian Westermann, Thomas Ingeman-Nielsen, Johanna Scheer, Kristoffer Aalstad, Juditha Aga, Nitin Chaudhary, Bernd Etzelmüller, Simon Filhol, Andreas Kääb, Cas Renette, Louise Steffensen Schmidt, Thomas Vikhamar Schuler, Robin B. Zweigel, Léo Martin, Sarah Morard, Matan Ben-Asher, Michael Angelopoulos, Julia Boike, Brian Groenke, Frederieke Miesner, Jan Nitzbon, Paul Overduin, Simone M. Stuenzi, and Moritz Langer
Geosci. Model Dev., 16, 2607–2647, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-2607-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-2607-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The CryoGrid community model is a new tool for simulating ground temperatures and the water and ice balance in cold regions. It is a modular design, which makes it possible to test different schemes to simulate, for example, permafrost ground in an efficient way. The model contains tools to simulate frozen and unfrozen ground, snow, glaciers, and other massive ice bodies, as well as water bodies.
Fuming Xie, Shiyin Liu, Yongpeng Gao, Yu Zhu, Tobias Bolch, Andreas Kääb, Shimei Duan, Wenfei Miao, Jianfang Kang, Yaonan Zhang, Xiran Pan, Caixia Qin, Kunpeng Wu, Miaomiao Qi, Xianhe Zhang, Ying Yi, Fengze Han, Xiaojun Yao, Qiao Liu, Xin Wang, Zongli Jiang, Donghui Shangguan, Yong Zhang, Richard Grünwald, Muhammad Adnan, Jyoti Karki, and Muhammad Saifullah
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 847–867, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-847-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-847-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, first we generated inventories which allowed us to systematically detect glacier change patterns in the Karakoram range. We found that, by the 2020s, there were approximately 10 500 glaciers in the Karakoram mountains covering an area of 22 510.73 km2, of which ~ 10.2 % is covered by debris. During the past 30 years (from 1990 to 2020), the total glacier cover area in Karakoram remained relatively stable, with a slight increase in area of 23.5 km2.
Luuk D. van der Valk, Adriaan J. Teuling, Luc Girod, Norbert Pirk, Robin Stoffer, and Chiel C. van Heerwaarden
The Cryosphere, 16, 4319–4341, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4319-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4319-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Most large-scale hydrological and climate models struggle to capture the spatially highly variable wind-driven melt of patchy snow cover. In the field, we find that 60 %–80 % of the total melt is wind driven at the upwind edge of a snow patch, while it does not contribute at the downwind edge. Our idealized simulations show that the variation is due to a patch-size-independent air-temperature reduction over snow patches and also allow us to study the role of wind-driven snowmelt on larger scales.
Maximillian Van Wyk de Vries, Shashank Bhushan, Mylène Jacquemart, César Deschamps-Berger, Etienne Berthier, Simon Gascoin, David E. Shean, Dan H. Shugar, and Andreas Kääb
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 3309–3327, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-3309-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-3309-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
On 7 February 2021, a large rock–ice avalanche occurred in Chamoli, Indian Himalaya. The resulting debris flow swept down the nearby valley, leaving over 200 people dead or missing. We use a range of satellite datasets to investigate how the collapse area changed prior to collapse. We show that signs of instability were visible as early 5 years prior to collapse. However, it would likely not have been possible to predict the timing of the event from current satellite datasets.
Frank Paul, Livia Piermattei, Désirée Treichler, Lin Gilbert, Luc Girod, Andreas Kääb, Ludivine Libert, Thomas Nagler, Tazio Strozzi, and Jan Wuite
The Cryosphere, 16, 2505–2526, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2505-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2505-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Glacier surges are widespread in the Karakoram and have been intensely studied using satellite data and DEMs. We use time series of such datasets to study three glacier surges in the same region of the Karakoram. We found strongly contrasting advance rates and flow velocities, maximum velocities of 30 m d−1, and a change in the surge mechanism during a surge. A sensor comparison revealed good agreement, but steep terrain and the two smaller glaciers caused limitations for some of them.
Bas Altena, Andreas Kääb, and Bert Wouters
The Cryosphere, 16, 2285–2300, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2285-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2285-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Repeat overflights of satellites are used to estimate surface displacements. However, such products lack a simple error description for individual measurements, but variation in precision occurs, since the calculation is based on the similarity of texture. Fortunately, variation in precision manifests itself in the correlation peak, which is used for the displacement calculation. This spread is used to make a connection to measurement precision, which can be of great use for model inversion.
Isabelle Gärtner-Roer, Nina Brunner, Reynald Delaloye, Wilfried Haeberli, Andreas Kääb, and Patrick Thee
The Cryosphere, 16, 2083–2101, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2083-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2083-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We intensely investigated the Gruben site in the Swiss Alps, where glaciers and permafrost landforms closely interact, to better understand cold-climate environments. By the interpretation of air photos from 5 decades, we describe long-term developments of the existing landforms. In combination with high-resolution positioning measurements and ground surface temperatures, we were also able to link these to short-term changes and describe different landform responses to climate forcing.
Tazio Strozzi, Andreas Wiesmann, Andreas Kääb, Thomas Schellenberger, and Frank Paul
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2022-44, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2022-44, 2022
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary
Short summary
Knowledge on surface velocity of glaciers and ice caps contributes to a better understanding of a wide range of processes related to glacier dynamics, mass change and response to climate. Based on the release of historical satellite radar data from various space agencies we compiled nearly complete mosaics of winter ice surface velocities for the 1990's over the Eastern Arctic. Compared to the present state, we observe a general increase of ice velocities along with a retreat of glacier fronts.
Paul Willem Leclercq, Andreas Kääb, and Bas Altena
The Cryosphere, 15, 4901–4907, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4901-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4901-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
In this study we present a novel method to detect glacier surge activity. Surges are relevant as they disturb the link between glacier change and climate, and studying surges can also increase understanding of glacier flow. We use variations in Sentinel-1 radar backscatter strength, calculated with the use of Google Earth Engine, to detect surge activity. In our case study for the year 2018–2019 we find 69 cases of surging glaciers globally. Many of these were not previously known to be surging.
Andreas Kääb, Mylène Jacquemart, Adrien Gilbert, Silvan Leinss, Luc Girod, Christian Huggel, Daniel Falaschi, Felipe Ugalde, Dmitry Petrakov, Sergey Chernomorets, Mikhail Dokukin, Frank Paul, Simon Gascoin, Etienne Berthier, and Jeffrey S. Kargel
The Cryosphere, 15, 1751–1785, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1751-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1751-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Hardly recognized so far, giant catastrophic detachments of glaciers are a rare but great potential for loss of lives and massive damage in mountain regions. Several of the events compiled in our study involve volumes (up to 100 million m3 and more), avalanche speeds (up to 300 km/h), and reaches (tens of kilometres) that are hard to imagine. We show that current climate change is able to enhance associated hazards. For the first time, we elaborate a set of factors that could cause these events.
Andreas Kääb, Tazio Strozzi, Tobias Bolch, Rafael Caduff, Håkon Trefall, Markus Stoffel, and Alexander Kokarev
The Cryosphere, 15, 927–949, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-927-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-927-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We present a map of rock glacier motion over parts of the northern Tien Shan and time series of surface speed for six of them over almost 70 years.
This is by far the most detailed investigation of this kind available for central Asia.
We detect a 2- to 4-fold increase in rock glacier motion between the 1950s and present, which we attribute to atmospheric warming.
Relative to the shrinking glaciers in the region, this implies increased importance of periglacial sediment transport.
Andreas Alexander, Jaroslav Obu, Thomas V. Schuler, Andreas Kääb, and Hanne H. Christiansen
The Cryosphere, 14, 4217–4231, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4217-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4217-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
In this study we present subglacial air, ice and sediment temperatures from within the basal drainage systems of two cold-based glaciers on Svalbard during late spring and the summer melt season. We put the data into the context of air temperature and rainfall at the glacier surface and show the importance of surface events on the subglacial thermal regime and erosion around basal drainage channels. Observed vertical erosion rates thereby reachup to 0.9 m d−1.
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Co-editor-in-chief
This paper describes a very dramatic rate of landscape change that is both scientifically notable across the geoscience community, and of general interest to the public. The key messages can be communicated in a very accessible way, and the satellite imagery associated with the analysis clearly show the high impact changes to the valley.
This paper describes a very dramatic rate of landscape change that is both scientifically...
Short summary
Following the detachment of the 130 × 106 m3 Sedongpu Glacier (south-eastern Tibet) in 2018, the Sedongpu Valley underwent massive large-volume landscape changes. An enormous volume of in total around 330 × 106 m3 was rapidly eroded, forming a new canyon of up to 300 m depth, 1 km width, and almost 4 km length. Such consequences of glacier change in mountains have so far not been considered at this magnitude and speed.
Following the detachment of the 130 × 106 m3 Sedongpu Glacier (south-eastern Tibet) in 2018, the...