A changing hydrological regime: Trends in magnitude and timing of glacier ice melt and glacier runoff in a high latitude coastal watershed

AbstractAlberta’s Bow River has its headwaters in the glaciated eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies and is a major source of water in southern Alberta. Glacial retreat, declining snowpacks and increased water demand are all expected in the coming century, yet there are relatively few studies focusing on quantifying glacial meltwater in the Bow River. We develop a new radiation-temperature melt model for modelling distributed glacier mass balance and runoff in the Bow River basin. The model reflects physical processes through the incorporation of near-surface air temperature and absorbed radiation, while avoiding problems of collinearity through the use of a radiation-decorrelated temperature index. The model is calibrated at Haig Glacier in the southern portion of the basin and validated at Haig and Peyto Glaciers. Application of the model to the entire Bow River basin for 2000-09 shows glacier ice melt is equivalent to 3% of annual discharge in Calgary on average. Modelled ice melt in August is equal to 8-20% of the August Bow River discharge in Calgary. This emphasizes the importance of glacier runoff to late-summer streamflow in the region, particularly in warm, dry years.

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Implications of climate change on Glacier de la Plaine Morte, Switzerland

Geographica Helvetica ◽

10.5194/gh-68-227-2013 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 68 (4) ◽

pp. 227-237 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

M. Huss ◽

A. Voinesco ◽

M. Hoelzle

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Natural Hazard ◽

Hydrological Regime ◽

European Alps ◽

Hazard Potential ◽

Ice Melt ◽

Mountainous Regions ◽

Alpine Glaciers ◽

Integrative View ◽

Glacier Runoff

Abstract. Changes in Switzerland's climate are expected to have major impacts on glaciers, the hydrological regime and the natural hazard potential in mountainous regions. Glacier de la Plaine Morte is the largest plateau glacier in the European Alps and thus represents a particularly interesting site for studying rapid and far-reaching effects of atmospheric warming on Alpine glaciers. Based on detailed field observations combined with numerical modelling, the changes in total ice volume of Glacier de la Plaine Morte since the 1950s and the dynamics of present glacier mass loss are assessed. Future ice melt and changes in glacier runoff are computed using climate scenarios, and a possible increase in the natural hazard potential of glacier-dammed lakes around Plaine Morte over the next decades is discussed. This article provides an integrative view of the past, current and future retreat of an extraordinary Swiss glacier and emphasizes the implications of climate change on Alpine glaciers.

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Glacial debris cover and melt water production for glaciers in the Altay, Russia

The Cryosphere Discussions ◽

10.5194/tcd-5-401-2011 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 401-430 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

C. Mayer ◽

A. Lambrecht ◽

W. Hagg ◽

Y. Narozhny

Keyword(s):

Ice Melt ◽

The North ◽

Altay Mountains ◽

Digital Elevation ◽

Glacier Runoff ◽

Debris Cover ◽

Continuous Mass ◽

Different Depths ◽

The 1960S ◽

Elevation Model

Abstract. Glaciers are important water storages on a seasonal and long-term time scale. Where high mountains are surrounded by arid lowlands, glacier runoff is an important source of water during the growing season. This situation can be found in the Altay mountains in Southern Siberia, where the recent glacierization of >700 km2 is subject to continuous mass loss, even though the shrinking is comparably slow. The glacier retreat is accompanied by an extension of supra-glacial moraine, which itself strongly influences ablation rates. To quantify these effects, the spatial evolution of debris cover since 1952 was analysed for three glaciers in the North Chuya Ridge using satellite and airborne imagery. In summer 2007, an ablation experiment was carried out on debris covered parts of Maliy Aktru glacier. Thermistors in different depths within the moraine provided data to calculate thermal resistance of the debris. A set of ablation stakes was installed at locations with differing debris thickness and observed regularly throughout the entire melt season. Air temperature from an AWS was used to calculate degree day factors in dependence of the debris thickness. To take into account the shading effect of surrounding walls and peaks, the potential solar radiation and its evolution throughout the summer was determined from a digital elevation model. This allows us to extrapolate our measurements from Maliy Aktru to the other two glaciers of the Aktru basin and to estimate basin melt rates. In addition accumulated ice melt was derived for 12 glaciers in the North Chuya Range. Changes in summer runoff from the 1960s are compared to the results from our melt model and the evolution of debris cover is analysed in respect to the melt activity.

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Glacier runoff variations since 1955 in the Maipo River basin, in the semiarid Andes of central Chile

The Cryosphere ◽

10.5194/tc-14-2005-2020 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 14 (6) ◽

pp. 2005-2027 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Álvaro Ayala ◽

David Farías-Barahona ◽

Matthias Huss ◽

Francesca Pellicciotti ◽

James McPhee ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mass Balance ◽

River Basin ◽

Climate Scenario ◽

Glacier Mass Balance ◽

Time Step ◽

Ice Melt ◽

Kinematic Approximation ◽

Glacier Runoff ◽

Drought Mitigation ◽

Year 2000

Abstract. As glaciers adjust their size in response to climate variations, long-term changes in meltwater production can be expected, affecting the local availability of water resources. We investigate glacier runoff in the period 1955–2016 in the Maipo River basin (4843 km2, 33.0–34.3∘ S, 69.8–70.5∘ W), in the semiarid Andes of Chile. The basin contains more than 800 glaciers, which cover 378 km2 in total (inventoried in 2000). We model the mass balance and runoff contribution of 26 glaciers with the physically oriented and fully distributed TOPKAPI (Topographic Kinematic Approximation and Integration)-ETH glacio-hydrological model and extrapolate the results to the entire basin. TOPKAPI-ETH is run at a daily time step using several glaciological and meteorological datasets, and its results are evaluated against streamflow records, remotely sensed snow cover, and geodetic mass balances for the periods 1955–2000 and 2000–2013. Results show that in 1955–2016 glacier mass balance had a general decreasing trend as a basin average but also had differences between the main sub-catchments. Glacier volume decreased by one-fifth (from 18.6±4.5 to 14.9±2.9 km3). Runoff from the initially glacierized areas was 177±25 mm yr−1 (16±7 % of the total contributions to the basin), but it shows a decreasing sequence of maxima, which can be linked to the interplay between a decrease in precipitation since the 1980s and the reduction of ice melt. Glaciers in the Maipo River basin will continue retreating because they are not in equilibrium with the current climate. In a hypothetical constant climate scenario, glacier volume would reduce to 81±38 % of the year 2000 volume, and glacier runoff would be 78±30 % of the 1955–2016 average. This would considerably decrease the drought mitigation capacity of the basin.

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Change in the Extent of Glaciers and Glacier Runoff in the Chinese Sector of the Ile River Basin between 1962 and 2012

Water ◽

10.3390/w11081668 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (8) ◽

pp. 1668

Author(s):

Larissa Kogutenko ◽

Igor Severskiy ◽

Maria Shahgedanova ◽

Bigzhang Lin

Keyword(s):

Early Spring ◽

Glacier Area ◽

Index Method ◽

Glacier Surface ◽

Vegetative Period ◽

Ice Melt ◽

Total Runoff ◽

Initial Area ◽

Glacier Runoff ◽

The 1960S

Change in glacier area in the Kuksu and Kunes river basins, which are tributaries to the internationally important Ile River, were assessed at two different time steps between 1962/63, 1990/93, and 2010/12. Overall, glaciers lost 191.3 ± 16.8 km2 or 36.9 ± 6.5% of the initial area. Glacier wastage intensified in the latter period: While in 1962/63–1990/93 glaciers were losing 0.5% a−1, in 1990/93–2010/12, they were losing 1.2% a−1. Streamflow of the Ile River and its tributaries do not exhibit statistically significant change during the vegetative period between May and September. Positive trends were observed in the Ile flow in autumn, winter, and early spring. By contrast, the calculation of the total runoff from the glacier surface (including snow and ice melt) using temperature-index method and runoff forming due to melting of multiyear ice estimated from changes in glacier volume at different time steps between the 1960s and 2010s, showed that their absolute values and their contribution to total river runoff declined since the 1980s. This change is attributed to a strong reduction in glacier area.

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Unexpectedly high dimethyl sulfide concentration in high-latitude Arctic sea ice melt ponds

Environmental Science Processes & Impacts ◽

10.1039/c9em00195f ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 21 (10) ◽

pp. 1642-1649 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Keyhong Park ◽

Intae Kim ◽

Jung-Ok Choi ◽

Youngju Lee ◽

Jinyoung Jung ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

High Latitude ◽

Dimethyl Sulfide ◽

Arctic Sea Ice ◽

Sulfide Concentration ◽

Sea Ice Concentration ◽

Ice Melt ◽

Melt Ponds ◽

Arctic Sea ◽

Ice Concentration

Dimethyl sulfide (DMS) production in the northern Arctic Ocean has been considered to be minimal because of high sea ice concentration and extremely low productivity.

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Artificially Induced Thermokarst in Active Glacier Ice: An Example from North-West British Columbia, Canada

Journal of Glaciology ◽

10.3189/s0022143000021110 ◽

1977 ◽

Vol 18 (80) ◽

pp. 437-444

Author(s):

N. Eyles ◽

R. J. Rogerson

Keyword(s):

Waste Water ◽

British Columbia ◽

Review Of The Literature ◽

North West ◽

Ice Melt ◽

Basal Ice ◽

Glacier Ice

AbstractWarm waste water, at 30°C, has been discharged from a copper concentrater on to the active terminal ice of Berendon Glacier, British Columbia, since 1970. As a result, rapid basal ice melt causes the formation of caverns and subsequent collapse features referred to as glacier thermokarst. A review of the literature reveals that such features have been described elsewhere from active ice, and the usual conditions assumed for the development of glacier thermokarst (stagnant, heavily debris-covered ice) should be redefined to include these examples.

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The debris cover surface of Ponkar glacier: a laboratory for learning

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-22638 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Adina E. Racoviteanu ◽

Neil F. Glasser ◽

Smriti Basnett ◽

Rakesh Kayastha ◽

Stephan Harrison

Keyword(s):

Remote Sensing ◽

Scientific Knowledge ◽

Interdisciplinary Approach ◽

Surface Features ◽

Ice Melt ◽

Supraglacial Lakes ◽

High Asia ◽

Glacier Ice ◽

Building Activities ◽

Remote Sensing Methods

Understanding the evolution of debris-covered glaciers, including their evolution over time, the distribution of surface features such as exposed ice walls and supraglacial lakes, and their contributions to glacier ice melt and to glacier-related hazards such as Glacier Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) events requires an interdisciplinary approach, with a combination of remote sensing methods and collaborative fieldwork.Since 2017, the IGCP 672 /UNESCO project led has been focussing on the transfer&#160;of scientific knowledge on monitoring debris-covered glaciers to local partner institutions in high Asia through trainings, workshops and field collaborations. Our long-term goal is to disseminate methodologies developed under this project to local institutions in high Asia and to embed scientific knowledge into local communities.&#160;Here we report on recent capacity building activities held within the context of this new project involved local participants from universities in Nepal and Sikkim. The training included remote sensing/GIS modules, temperature measurements, sediment logging and drone surveys of the ablation zone, which will allow us to better quantify the surface features and their evolution.&#160;

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