Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Lindsey Nicholson, Anna Wirbel, Christoph Mayer, Astrid Lambrecht
Summary: The ongoing changes in mountain glaciers have a significant impact on local water resources, hazard potential, and global sea level rise. Research indicates that glaciers covered in rock debris respond differently to climate forcing compared to debris-free glaciers, highlighting the importance of understanding the evolution of debris cover for accurate glacier modeling. Addressing key research targets and improving numerical representations of debris-covered glaciers are essential for enhancing regional and global glacier models.
FRONTIERS IN EARTH SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Geography, Physical
B. Anderson, A. N. Mackintosh, R. Dadic, J. Oerlemans, C. Zammit, A. Doughty, A. Sood, B. Mullan
Summary: Research indicates that glaciers will lose mass in the next few decades as the climate warms. The volume loss of glaciers will vary under different scenarios, but the overall trend shows an accelerated ice loss, providing insight into the future behavior of glaciers.
GLOBAL AND PLANETARY CHANGE
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Da Huo, Michael P. Bishop, Andrew B. G. Bush
Summary: This paper discusses the complexity of debris-covered glacier systems, emphasizing the importance of understanding system couplings and feedbacks, and providing insights into controlling factors and glacial processes. The study finds that climate forcing, properties and transport of debris, topography, and supraglacial water bodies are key controlling factors in debris-covered glacier systems.
FRONTIERS IN EARTH SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Sarah F. Child, Leigh A. Stearns, C. J. van der Veen, Pedro Elosegui
Summary: Research on Byrd Glacier reveals that short-lived flow accelerations can lead to abnormally large basal crevasses near the grounding line. Airborne radar measurements and particle tracking help understand the height and formation process of these crevasses, which have an impact on both Byrd Glacier and the Ross Ice Shelf.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Fang Chen, Jinxiao Wang, Bin Li, Aqiang Yang, Meimei Zhang
Summary: The aim of this study was to identify possible causes of thickness changes for Himalayan debris-covered glaciers. The results showed that the thickness changes were mainly influenced by debris thicknesses, ice cliffs and supraglacial lakes, with different dominant factors for different regions.
REMOTE SENSING OF ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Geography, Physical
Michelle R. Koutnik, Asmin Pathare
Summary: Research on debris-covered glaciers on Earth and Mars provides insights into glacier evolution and the effects of debris on climate conditions. Knowledge established on Earth is applied to Mars, aiding in understanding past climate conditions and estimating buried ice inventory.
PROGRESS IN PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY-EARTH AND ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Mingcheng Hu, Guangsheng Zhou, Xiaomin Lv, Li Zhou, Xiaoliang Wang, Xiaohui He, Zhihui Tian
Summary: This study extracted clean and debris-covered glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau from 1985 to 2020 using the double RF method and Landsat series images, and analyzed their temporal and spatial changes under the background of climate change. The total area of glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau showed a retreating trend, with clean glaciers retreating faster in the southeast and slower in the northwest, while debris-covered glaciers expanded in most basins. Climate warming was identified as the main driver of glacier change. The results of this study may contribute to the scientific management of glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau in the context of climate warming.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Christoph Mayer, Carlo Licciulli
Summary: Debris-covered glaciers and clean-surface glaciers respond differently to external forcing, with the supra-glacial debris cover playing a key role in the energy exchange between atmosphere and ice. The integral of local effects in debris-covered glaciers can lead to enhanced or reduced melt, highlighting the importance of detailed treatment of ice flow and debris-influenced melt in feedback studies. Inherent tendencies of debris-covered glaciers to switch to an oscillating state and the out-of-phase glacier mass balance and debris balance suggest that interpreting modern observations solely based on a changing climate is challenging.
FRONTIERS IN EARTH SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Stefano Brighenti, Scott Hotaling, Debra S. Finn, Andrew G. Fountain, Masaki Hayashi, David Herbst, Jasmine E. Saros, Lusha M. Tronstad, Constance I. Millar
Summary: Cold rocky landforms in mountain ranges, often overlooked in ecological literature, have the potential to provide stable and cool habitats for biodiversity in the face of climate warming. These features may act as key climate refugia for terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity, remaining on the landscape even after adjacent glaciers and snowfields have melted.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Shujing Yang, Feiteng Wang, Yida Xie, Weibo Zhao, Changbin Bai, Jingwen Liu, Chunhai Xu
Summary: This study evaluates the accuracy of Landsat8 OLI, Sentinel-1A, and GF images in delineating debris-covered glaciers in the Eastern Tomur Peak Region (EPTR) of the Tien Shan Mountain. The results show that these images have high accuracy in delineating debris-covered glaciers, with F1 scores of 96.73%, 93.55%, and 95.81%, respectively. The analysis of area change using Landsat images from 2000 to 2022 reveals a decrease in glacier area and an increase in debris-covered area, confirming the inhibitory effect of debris on glacier melting. The main driver of change in debris-covered glaciers is the increase in temperature.
Review
Environmental Sciences
Da Huo, Zhaohui Chi, Andong Ma
Summary: Research on surface processes of debris-covered glaciers is crucial for understanding the climate-glacier relationship, hydrological cycle, and natural hazards in High Mountain Asia. Numerical models play a significant role in studies due to the scarcity of long-term in situ data, but existing models have limitations in addressing coupled processes on debris-covered glaciers.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
J. M. Cross, A. G. Fountain, M. J. Hoffman, M. K. Obryk
Summary: The McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica are home to a number of permanently ice-covered lakes that are fed by nearby glaciers. These lakes have experienced significant changes in water levels, and current trends show an increase after a period of decrease. The hydrology of these lakes is influenced by the energy available for melting glacier ice and sublimation of ice from the lake surface. A study was conducted on the three largest lakes in Taylor Valley to understand the factors affecting their water levels. The results showed that small changes in glacier albedo, air temperature, and wind speed can have a significant impact on lake levels. Additionally, a shallow groundwater system was hypothesized to contribute to the water inflow in one of the watersheds. The lakes in this region are currently out of balance with the climate, and if current climate trends continue, the water levels could rise by 2-17 meters by 2300.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-EARTH SURFACE
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
E. S. Miles, J. F. Steiner, P. Buri, W. W. Immerzeel, F. Pellicciotti
Summary: The study explores the impact of supraglacial debris, ice cliffs, and supraglacial ponds on glacier melt rates, highlighting the importance of considering these factors in global melt modeling. Results show that ice cliffs have a melt rate 2-3 times higher than clean glacier ice, with supraglacial ponds primarily influenced by latent heat exchange.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Geography, Physical
Fabian Fleischer, Jan-Christoph Otto, Robert R. Junker, Daniel Hoelbling
Summary: Debris cover on glaciers is a key component influencing climate-glacier dynamics and glacier lifespan. The study in the Eastern Alps of Austria shows an increase of over 10% in debris cover on glaciers from 1996 to 2015, while glaciers retreated in response to climate warming. Different mountain ranges exhibit significant regional variability in debris cover on glaciers.
EARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Civil
J. De Marco, L. Carturan, E. Maset, S. Cucchiaro, D. Visintini, R. De Infanti, F. Cazorzi
Summary: This study documents the changes in the Montasio Glacier over the last century and reveals its unusual response to climatic changes. The increase in debris cover and changes in snowfall are the main factors influencing the divergence between the Montasio Glacier and other Alpine glaciers.
JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGY
(2022)