Distributed modelling of the regional climatic equilibrium line altitude of glaciers in the European Alps

2007 ◽  
Vol 56 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 83-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Zemp ◽  
Martin Hoelzle ◽  
Wilfried Haeberli
Keyword(s):  
Equilibrium Line ◽  
European Alps ◽  
Equilibrium Line Altitude ◽  
Distributed Modelling

scholarly journals 200 years of equilibrium-line altitude variability across the European Alps (1901−2100)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manja Žebre ◽  
Renato R. Colucci ◽  
Filippo Giorgi ◽  
Neil F. Glasser ◽  
Adina E. Racoviteanu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emission ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Grid Cell ◽  
Equilibrium Line ◽  
European Alps ◽  
Equilibrium Line Altitude ◽  
Distributed Modelling ◽  
Surface Time

AbstractMountain glaciers are key indicators of climate change. Their response is revealed by the environmental equilibrium-line altitude (ELA), i.e. the regional altitude of zero mass balance averaged over a long period of time. We introduce a simple approach for distributed modelling of the environmental ELA over the entire European Alps based on the parameterization of ELA in terms of summer temperature and annual precipitation at a glacier. We use 200 years of climate records and forecasts to model environmental ELA from 1901 to 2100 at 5 arcmin grid cell resolution. Historical environmental ELAs are reconstructed based on precipitation from the Long-term Alpine Precipitation reconstruction (LAPrec) dataset and temperature from the Historical Instrumental climatological Surface Time series of the greater Alpine region (HISTALP). The simulations of future environmental ELAs are forced with high-resolution EURO-CORDEX regional climate model projections for the European domain using three different greenhouse gas emissions scenarios (Representative Concentration Pathways, RCP). Our reconstructions yielded an environmental ELA across the European Alps of 2980 m above sea level for the period 1901−1930, with a rise of 114 m in the period 1971−2000. The environmental ELA is projected to exceed the maximum elevation of 69%, 81% and 92% of the glaciers in the European Alps by 2071−2100 under mitigation (RCP2.6), stabilization (RCP4.5) and high greenhouse gas emission (RCP8.5) scenarios, respectively.

Reconstructing LGM paleoglaciers and their ELAs along the southern fringe of the Eastern European Alps

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lukas Rettig ◽  
Francesco Ferrarese ◽  
Giovanni Monegato ◽  
Paolo Mozzi ◽  
Matteo Spagnolo
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Equilibrium Line ◽  
European Alps ◽  
The South ◽  
Equilibrium Line Altitude ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Mountainous Regions ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Southern Fringe

<p>The reconstruction of paleoglaciers and specifically the calculation of their equilibrium line altitude (ELA) is an important source of quantitative paleoclimatic information in mountainous regions. During the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), the prealpine massifs in the south-eastern part of the Alpine chain (Venetian Prealps, Carnic Prealps and Julian Prealps) hosted several small valley glaciers and local ice caps that were isolated from the larger ice-streams occupying the major valleys. Because of their small size and independent dynamics these glaciers can be considered as excellent indicators of local climatic conditions. Although this potential has long been recognised and the sediments and landforms related to these glaciations have been mapped in a few areas, a regional perspective on this type of glaciation is still lacking. This is primarily due to the wide range of methods of ELA reconstructions that has been applied historically, which makes a solid comparison between different localities difficult.</p><p>Here, we present a detailed re-evaluation of local LGM glaciation in the south-eastern Alps based on a large-scale survey of remote sensing data and targeted field work at selected localities. Recently developed GIS tools were applied for the reconstruction of paleoglacier geometries and ELAs (Pellitero et al. 2015, 2016). The obtained values are used both to discuss regional climatic patterns during the LGM and site-specific topographic factors. A specific focus is set on the Monte Cavallo group, where glacial sediments from the LGM are covering a thick sequence of interstadial lacustrine deposits. A set of new radiocarbon dates from this succession provides a first chronological control on the onset of glacier expansion in this part of the Alpine chain.</p><p> </p><p>References:</p><p>Pellitero, R. et al. 2015. A GIS tool for automatic calculation of glacier equilibrium-line altitudes. Computers & Geosciences 82: 55-62.</p><p>Pellitero, R. et al. 2016. GlaRe, a GIS tool to reconstruct the 3D surface of palaeoglaciers. Computers & Geosciences 94: 77-85.</p>

scholarly journals Glacier equilibrium line altitude variations during the “Little Ice Age” in the Mediterranean Andes (30◦–37◦ S)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Álvaro González-Reyes ◽  
Claudio Bravo ◽  
Mathias Vuille ◽  
Martin Jacques-Coper ◽  
Maisa Rojas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Little Ice Age ◽  
Pearson Correlation ◽  
Temporal Changes ◽  
Global Climate Models ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Equilibrium Line ◽  
Equilibrium Line Altitude ◽  
Mountainous Regions ◽  
The Mean ◽  
The Mediterranean

Abstract. The "Little Ice Age" (LIA; 1500–1850 Common Era (CE)), has long been recognized as the last period when mountain glaciers in many regions of the Northern Hemisphere (NH) recorded extensive growth intervals in terms of their ice mass and frontal position. The knowledge about this relevant paleoclimatic interval is vast in mountainous regions such as the Alps and Rocky Mountains in North America. However, in extra-tropical Andean sub-regions such as the Mediterranean Andes of Chile and Argentina (MA; 30º–37º S), the LIA has been poorly documented. Paradoxically, the few climate reconstructions performed in the MA based on lake sediments and tree rings do not show clear evidence of a LIA climate anomaly as observed in the NH. In addition, recent studies have demonstrated temporal differences between mean air temperature variations across the last millennium between both hemispheres. This motivates our hypothesis that the LIA period was not associated with a significant climate perturbation in the MA region. Considering this background, we performed an experiment using daily climatic variables from three Global Climate Models (GCMs) to force a novel glaciological model. In this way, we simulated temporal variations of the glacier equilibrium-line altitude (ELA) to evaluate the glacier response during the period 1500–1848 CE. Overall, each GCM shows temporal changes in annual ELA, with anomalously low elevations during 1640–1670 and 1800–1848 CE. An interval with high ELA values was identified during 1550–1575 CE. The spectral properties of the mean annual ELA in each GCM present significant periodicities between 2–7 years, and also significant decadal to multi-decadal signals. In addition, significant and coherent cycles at interannual to multi-decadal scales were detected between modeled mean annual ELAs and the first EOF1 extracted from Sea Surface Temperature (SST) within the El Niño 3.4 of each GCM. Finally, significant Pearson correlation coefficients were obtained between the mean annual ELA and Pacific SST on interannual to multi-decadal timescales. According to our findings, we propose that Pacific SST variability was the main modulator of temporal changes of the ELA in the MA region of South America during 1500–1848 CE.

scholarly journals A Statistical Analysis of Some Measures of the State of A Glacier’s “Health”

1972 ◽  
Vol 11 (61) ◽  
pp. 73-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. E. Dugdale
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Conceptual Models ◽  
Statistical Tests ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
The State ◽  
Equilibrium Line ◽  
Equilibrium Line Altitude ◽  
Regional Determination

AbstractData from Norwegian glaciers and statistical tests are presented which suggest that vertical net-budget gradient, ablation gradient and equilibrium-line altitude can be taken as characteristic for any particular glacier. The usefulness of these conceptual models as predictive techniques for the regional determination of glacier net budget when only a small sample is available, and in palaeo-net-budget studies, is shown to be limited.

scholarly journals Mass Balance of “Vesper” Glacier, Washington, U.S.A.

1981 ◽  
Vol 27 (96) ◽  
pp. 271-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
David P. Dethier ◽  
Jan E. Frederick
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Mass Balance ◽  
Cascade Range ◽  
Equilibrium Line ◽  
Equilibrium Line Altitude ◽  
Climatic Fluctuations ◽  
The North ◽  
Snow Line ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Geologic Data

AbstractDuring 1974–75 glaciologic and geologic studies were conducted on a small (0.17 km2) avalanche-nourished glacier in the North Cascade Range of Washington. The approximate equilibrium-line altitude (ELA) for this ice body, informally called “Vesper” glacier, lies at 1475 m, some 300 m below the regional ELA value. Estimated annual accumulation was 6 100±675 mm during the two years of study; 15 to 30% of this flux resulted from avalanche and wind–transported snow. Average annual ablation during the period was 5 350 mm, giving a total net balance of + 1 600 mm for the two-year study period. “Vesper” glacier persists well below the regional snow-line because of excessive local precipitation, substantial avalanche contributions, and a favourable north-facing aspect.Neoglacial moraines indicate that maximum ELA lowering in this period was approximately 165 m and occurred prior to a.d. 1670. Minor re-advances occurred during the nineteenth century. These reconnaissance measurements are consistent with the sparse geologic data reported from other glaciers in the Cascade Range. While the relationship between regional lowering of snow-line and avalanche activity is uncertain at present, these data suggest that avalanche-nourished glaciers provide a useful record of climatic fluctuations.

scholarly journals Exceptionally High 2018 Equilibrium Line Altitude on Taku Glacier, Alaska

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (20) ◽  
pp. 2378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mauri Pelto
Keyword(s):  
Satellite Imagery ◽  
Research Program ◽  
Migration Rate ◽  
Field Data ◽  
Ablation Rate ◽  
Equilibrium Line ◽  
Equilibrium Line Altitude ◽  
The Mean ◽  
First Time ◽  
Annual Balance

The Juneau Icefield Research Program (JIRP) has been examining the glaciers of the Juneau Icefield since 1946. The height of the transient snowline (TSL) at the end of the summer represents the annual equilibrium line altitude (ELA) for the glacier, where ablation equals accumulation. On Taku Glacier the ELA has been observed annually from 1946 to 2018. Since 1998 multiple annual observations of the TSL in satellite imagery identify both the migration rate of the TSL and ELA. The mean ELA has risen 85 ± 10 m from the 1946–1985 period to the 1986–2018 period. In 2018 the TSL was observed at: 900 m on 5 July; 975 m on 21 July; 1075 m on 30 July; 1400 m on 16 September; and 1425 m on 1 October. This is the first time since 1946 that the TSL has reached or exceeded 1250 m on Taku Glacier. The 500 m TSL rise from 5 July to 30 July, 8.0. md−1, is the fastest rate of rise observed. This combined with the observed balance gradient in this region yields an ablation rate of 40–43 mmd−1, nearly double the average ablation rate. On 22 July a snow pit was completed at 1405 m with 0.93 m w.e. (water equivalent), that subsequently lost all snow cover, prior to 16 September. This is one of eight snow pits completed in July providing field data to verify the ablation rate. The result of the record ELA and rapid ablation is the largest negative annual balance of Taku Glacier since records began in 1946.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document