Articles | Volume 7, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-1361-2013
© Author(s) 2013. 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-7-1361-2013
© Author(s) 2013. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Research article
| 
05 Sep 2013
Research article |
| 05 Sep 2013
The geomorphological effect of cornice fall avalanches in the Longyeardalen valley, Svalbard
M. Eckerstorfer
Arctic Geology Department, University Centre in Svalbard, P.O. Box 156, 9171 Longyearbyen, Norway
Earth Observation, Norut, P.O. Box 6434, Tromsø Science Park, 9294 Tromsø, Norway
H. H. Christiansen
Arctic Geology Department, University Centre in Svalbard, P.O. Box 156, 9171 Longyearbyen, Norway
L. Rubensdotter
Geological Survey of Norway, P.O. Box 6315, Sluppen, 7491 Trondheim, Norway
S. Vogel
Arctic Geology Department, University Centre in Svalbard, P.O. Box 156, 9171 Longyearbyen, Norway
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Holt Hancock, Jordy Hendrikx, Markus Eckerstorfer, and Siiri Wickström
The Cryosphere, 15, 3813–3837, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3813-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3813-2021, 2021
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We investigate how snow avalanche activity in central Spitsbergen, Svalbard, is broadly controlled by atmospheric circulation. Avalanche activity in this region is generally associated with atmospheric circulation conducive to increased precipitation, wind speeds, and air temperatures near Svalbard during winter storms. Our results help place avalanche activity on Spitsbergen in the wider context of Arctic environmental change and provide a foundation for improved avalanche forecasting here.
Holt Hancock, Markus Eckerstorfer, Alexander Prokop, and Jordy Hendrikx
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 20, 603–623, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-20-603-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-20-603-2020, 2020
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This work uses terrestrial laser scanning techniques to monitor and quantify changes to snow cornices near Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway, with sub-decimeter accuracy. Our findings illustrate how complex interactions between topography and meteorological conditions govern the growth, failure, and associated avalanche activity of the cornices in this location. These findings can help improve forecasting of snow-cornice-related hazards in this and other locations exposed to snow cornice hazards.
E. Malnes, M. Eckerstorfer, and H. Vickers
The Cryosphere Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/tcd-9-1943-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/tcd-9-1943-2015, 2015
Revised manuscript has not been submitted
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During an avalanche cycle in January 2015 in northern Norway we used repeat pass Sentinel-1 images to map avalanches. Avalanche debris shows up as increased backscatter in repeat pass images. We detected 489 avalanches in a single scene. Results were validated using high resolution SAR data and field reconnaissance. The results are very promising, and pave the way for operational avalanche monitoring using SAR. Sentinel-1 grant frequent coverage with high quality to monitor avalanches.
Anatoly O. Sinitsyn, Sara Bazin, Rasmus Benestad, Bernd Etzelmüller, Ketil Isaksen, Hanne Kvitsand, Julia Lutz, Andrea L. Popp, Lena Rubensdotter, and Sebastian Westermann
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2950, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2950, 2023
Preprint archived
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This study looked at under the ground on Svalbard, an archipelago close to the North Pole. We found something very surprising – there is water under the all year around frozen soil. This was not known before. This water could be used for drinking if we manage it carefully. This is important because getting clean drinking water is very difficult in Svalbard, and other Arctic places. Also, because the climate is getting warmer, there might be even more water underground in the future.
Ionut Cristi Nicu, Letizia Elia, Lena Rubensdotter, Hakan Tanyaş, and Luigi Lombardo
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 447–464, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-447-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-447-2023, 2023
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Thaw slumps and thermo-erosion gullies are cryospheric hazards that are widely encountered in Nordenskiöld Land, the largest and most compact ice-free area of the Svalbard Archipelago. By statistically analysing the landscape characteristics of locations where these processes occurred, we can estimate where they may occur in the future. We mapped 562 thaw slumps and 908 thermo-erosion gullies and used them to create the first multi-hazard susceptibility map in a high-Arctic environment.
Holt Hancock, Jordy Hendrikx, Markus Eckerstorfer, and Siiri Wickström
The Cryosphere, 15, 3813–3837, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3813-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3813-2021, 2021
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We investigate how snow avalanche activity in central Spitsbergen, Svalbard, is broadly controlled by atmospheric circulation. Avalanche activity in this region is generally associated with atmospheric circulation conducive to increased precipitation, wind speeds, and air temperatures near Svalbard during winter storms. Our results help place avalanche activity on Spitsbergen in the wider context of Arctic environmental change and provide a foundation for improved avalanche forecasting here.
Holt Hancock, Markus Eckerstorfer, Alexander Prokop, and Jordy Hendrikx
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 20, 603–623, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-20-603-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-20-603-2020, 2020
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This work uses terrestrial laser scanning techniques to monitor and quantify changes to snow cornices near Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway, with sub-decimeter accuracy. Our findings illustrate how complex interactions between topography and meteorological conditions govern the growth, failure, and associated avalanche activity of the cornices in this location. These findings can help improve forecasting of snow-cornice-related hazards in this and other locations exposed to snow cornice hazards.
Juri Palmtag, Stefanie Cable, Hanne H. Christiansen, Gustaf Hugelius, and Peter Kuhry
The Cryosphere, 12, 1735–1744, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1735-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1735-2018, 2018
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This study aims to improve the previous soil organic carbon and total nitrogen storage estimates for the Zackenberg area (NE Greenland) that were based on a land cover classification approach, by using geomorphological upscaling. The landform-based approach more correctly constrains the depositional areas in alluvial fans and deltas with high SOC and TN storage. This research emphasises the need to consider geomorphology when assessing SOC pools in mountain permafrost landscapes.
Carina Schuh, Andrew Frampton, and Hanne Hvidtfeldt Christiansen
The Cryosphere, 11, 635–651, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-635-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-635-2017, 2017
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This study investigates how soil moisture retention characteristics impact ice and moisture redistribution, heat transport and active layer thickness under permafrost conditions. This is relevant for understanding how climate change interacts with permafrost, which is important because there is much stored carbon in permafrost, which may be released to the atmosphere as permafrost degrades and may then act to further enhance climate warming.
E. Malnes, M. Eckerstorfer, and H. Vickers
The Cryosphere Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/tcd-9-1943-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/tcd-9-1943-2015, 2015
Revised manuscript has not been submitted
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During an avalanche cycle in January 2015 in northern Norway we used repeat pass Sentinel-1 images to map avalanches. Avalanche debris shows up as increased backscatter in repeat pass images. We detected 489 avalanches in a single scene. Results were validated using high resolution SAR data and field reconnaissance. The results are very promising, and pave the way for operational avalanche monitoring using SAR. Sentinel-1 grant frequent coverage with high quality to monitor avalanches.
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
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The Cryosphere, 18, 2335–2356, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2335-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2335-2024, 2024
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
Leif S. Anderson and Robert S. Anderson
The Cryosphere, 10, 1105–1124, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1105-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1105-2016, 2016
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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.
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
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