Articles | Volume 18, issue 12
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-5965-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-5965-2024
Research article
 | 
18 Dec 2024
Research article |  | 18 Dec 2024

Distributed surface mass balance of an avalanche-fed glacier

Marin Kneib, Amaury Dehecq, Adrien Gilbert, Auguste Basset, Evan S. Miles, Guillaume Jouvet, Bruno Jourdain, Etienne Ducasse, Luc Beraud, Antoine Rabatel, Jérémie Mouginot, Guillem Carcanade, Olivier Laarman, Fanny Brun, and Delphine Six

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This preprint is open for discussion and under review for The Cryosphere (TC).
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Cited articles

Alexander, D., Shulmeister, J., and Davies, T.: High basal melting rates within high-precipitation temperate glaciers, J. Glaciol., 57, 789–795, https://doi.org/10.3189/002214311798043726, 2011. 
Belart, J. M. C., Berthier, E., Magnússon, E., Anderson, L. S., Pálsson, F., Thorsteinsson, T., Howat, I. M., Aðalgeirsdóttir, G., Jóhannesson, T., and Jarosch, A. H.: Winter mass balance of Drangajökull ice cap (NW Iceland) derived from satellite sub-meter stereo images, The Cryosphere, 11, 1501–1517, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-1501-2017, 2017. 
Benn, D. I. and Lehmkuhl, F.: Mass balance and equilibrium-line altitudes of glaciers in high-mountain environments, Quatern. Int., 65–66, 15–29, https://doi.org/10.1016/S1040-6182(99)00034-8, 2000. 
Beraud, L., Cusicanqui, D., Rabatel, A., Brun, F., Vincent, C., and Six, D.: Glacier-wide seasonal and annual geodetic mass balances from Pléiades stereo images: application to the Glacier d'Argentière, French Alps, J. Glaciol., 1–13, https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2022.79, 2022. 
Bernhardt, M. and Schulz, K.: SnowSlide: A simple routine for calculating gravitational snow transport, Geophys Res Lett, 37, https://doi.org/10.1029/2010GL043086, 2010. 
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Short summary
Avalanches contribute to increasing the accumulation on mountain glaciers by redistributing snow from surrounding mountains slopes. Here we quantified the contribution of avalanches to the mass balance of Argentière Glacier in the French Alps, by combining satellite and field observations to model the glacier dynamics. We show that the contribution of avalanches locally increases the accumulation by 60–70 % and that accounting for this effect results in less ice loss by the end of the century.
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