Recent Changes Occurred in the Terminus of the Debris-covered Bilafond Glacier in the Karakoram Himalayas Using Remotely Sensed Images and Digital Elevation Models (1978-2011)

Recent changes occurred in terminus of the debris-covered Bilafond Glacier in the Karakoram Range in the Himalayas, Northern Pakistan was investigated in this research. Landsat MSS, TM and ETM＋ images were used for this study. Digital elevation models derived from ASTER GDEM and SRTM were also utilized. Visible, infrared and thermal infrared channels were utilized in order to get accurate glacier change maps. Three methods were tried to map this debris-covered glacier in this research. The glacier has been mapped successfully and the changes in the glacier terminus from 1978 to 2011 have been calculated. Manual, semi-automatic and thermal methods were found to give similar results. It was found that the glacier has undergone serious ablation during this period despite of the fact that many of the larger glaciers in the Hindu Kush and Karakoram mountain regions in the Upper Indus Basin were reported to be expanding. The terminus has been moved back about 600 meters during this period and there was an abrupt change in the glacier terminus during 1990-2002. We propose that debris thickness is not the only factor that influences the glacier ablation but the altitude of the debris-covered glacier as well. Many glaciers in the Karakoram region reported to be expanding were having higher altitudes compared to the study area.     

Thinning and shrinkage of Laohugou No. 12 glacier in the Western Qilian Mountains, China, from 1957 to 2007

Landsat images, real-time kinematic GPS measurements, and topographic maps were used to determine changes in ice elevation, volume, and areal extent of the Laohugou No. 12 glacier (Qilian Mountains, China) between 1957 and 2007. The glacier experienced significant thinning and areal shrinkage in the ablation zone, but slight thickening in part of the accumulation zone. Elevation decreased by 18.6±5.4 m between 1957 and 2007 in the regions covered by the GPS measurements. The total volume loss for the entire glacier was estimated to be 0.218 km3 using a third-order polynomial fit method. The area diminished by 0.28 km2 between 1957 and 1994, 0.26 km2 between 1994 and 2000, and 0.28 km2 between 2000 and 2007, suggesting that the rate of loss in glacial coverage has increased since the mid-1990s. Significant increases in annual mean air temperature may have contributed to shrinkage and thinning of the glacier.     

Chemical characteristics of four kinds of water in the rongbuk glacier basin, Mount Qomolangma

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Distribution of debris flows in Glacier National Park,Montana, U.S.A.

The spectacular scenery of Glacier National Park is the result of glacial erosion as well as post-glacial mass wasting processes. Debris flow magnitude and frequency have been established through extensive fieldwork across seven separate drainage basins in the eastern portion of the park. This paper summarizes the investigation of the hypotheses that debris flow distribution in the Glacier National Park, east of the Continental Divide is （a） not random; and Co） concentrated adjacent to the Continental Divide. The location of 2317 debris flows were identified and mapped from sixty-three 1-m resolution Digital Orthophoto Quarter Quadrangles and their spatial distribution was then analyzed using ArcView Spatial Analyst GIS software. The GIS analysis showed that the debris flows are not randomly distributed nor are they concentrated directly adjacent to the Divide. While the Continental Divide provides orographic enhancement of precipitation directly adjacent to the Divide, the debris flows are not concentrated there due to a lack of available weathered regolith. The most recent Little Ice Age glaciation removed the debris directly adjacent to the Divide, and without an adequate debris supply, these steep slopes experience few debris flows. Both abundant water and an adequate debris supply are necessary to initiate slope failure, resulting in a clustering of debris flows at the break in slope where valley walls contact talus slopes. A variety of summer storm and antecedent moisture conditions initiate slope failures in the Glacier National Park, with no distinct meteorological threshold. With over two million visitorsevery year, and millions of dollars of park infrastructure at risk, identifying the hazard of debris flows is essential to future park management plans.     

Glacier fluctuations between 1975 and 2008 in the Greater Himalaya Range of Zanskar, southern Ladakh

Glaciers in the Himalaya are often heavily covered with supraglacial debris,making them difficult to study with remotely-sensed imagery alone.Various methods such as band ratios can be used effectively to map clean-ice glaciers;however,a thicker layer of debris often makes it impossible to distinguish between supraglacial debris and the surrounding terrain.Previously,a morphometric mapping approach employing an ASTER-derived digital elevation model has been used to map glaciers in the Khumbu Himal and the Tien Shan.This study on glaciers in the Greater Himalaya Range in Zanskar,southern Ladakh,aims (i) to use the morphometric approach to map large debris-covered glaciers;and (ii) to use Landsat and ASTER data and GPS and field measurements to document glacier change over the past four decades.Field work was carried out in the summers of 2008.For clean ice,band ratios from the ASTER dataset were used to distinguish glacial features.For debris-covered glaciers,topographic features such as slope were combined with thermal imagery and supervised classifiers to map glacial margins.The method is promising for large glaciers,although problems occurred in the distal and lateral parts and in the fore field of the glaciers.A multi-temporal analysis of glaciers in Zanskar showed that in general they have receded since at least the mid-to late-1970s.However,some few glaciers that advanced or oscillated - probably because of specific local environmental conditions - do exist.     

Identification of ice elevation change of the Shuiguan River No. 4 glacier in the Qilian Mountains,China

GPS measurement,an effective method for surveying glacier surface topography,has been applied in some glaciers for many years.The Shuiguan River No.4 glacier,a small glacier with its area of 1.84 km2 in 1972,located in the east of the Qilian Mountains,China,was selected to study its ice elevation change using GPS measurement in 2007.This study was conducted on the ablation area with GPS-measured area 0.5 km2.The ice elevation change of the glacier was obtained by comparing the DEM obtained by a 1:50 000 topographic map made in 1972 with the DEM by GPS-measured data acquired in 2007.The differences of the two DEMs showed the thinning condition of the glacier was apparent.The mean thinning was 15±8 m with the mean thinning rate of 0.42±0.22 m a-1 for 1972-2007 in the measurement area,which equaled 0.38±0.20 m yr-1 in water equivalent(w.e.).The prominent thinning occurred on the south part of the glacier,which was the area near the glacier terminus with the maximum thinning of 41±8 m.Assuming the thinning value of 15±8 m for the glacier area below 4640 m a.s.l.,the wasting ice mass was calculated to be 6.4±3.2×10-3 km3 for 1972-2007,corresponding to 5.7±2.8×10-3 km3 w.e.,which meant that the montane runoff released by the glacier was at least 5.7±2.8×106 m3 between 1972-2007.     

Mass balance sensitivity to climate change: A case study of glacier No. 1 at urumqi riverhead, Tianshan Mountains, China

Ｓｔｕｄｉｅｓｓｈｏｗｔｈａｔｔｈｅｇｌｏｂａｌｓｕｒｆａｃｅｔｅｍｐｅｒａｔｕｒｅｗｉｌｒｉｓｅａｔａｒａｔｅｏｆ０．３℃ｐｅｒ１０ａｉｎｔｈｅｎｅｘｔｓｅｖｅｒａｌｄｅｃａｄｅｓ（Ｈｏｕｇｈｔｏｎｅｔａｌ．,１９９０,１９９２;Ｓｈｉ,１９９５;...     

Water chemistry and hydrometeorology in a glacierized catchment in the Polar Urals,Russia

This study aims to determine the relationships between local meteorological conditions,proglacial river discharge and biogeochemical processes operating in a periglacial basin located in the Polar Ural mountain range, Russia. Fieldwork was conducted in the catchment of Obruchev Glacier(13 km2) during the summer peak flow period in 2008. River discharge was dominated by snowmelt and changed from 3300 l s-1 to less than 1000 l s-1. The mean daily air temperatures of stations situated in the mountain tundra and near Obruchev Glacier from July 11 th to August 1st 2008 were 14.4°C and 10.3°C, respectively. The glacial river had low total dissolved solids varying from 4.5 to 9 mg l-1 and coefficients of correlation between Na+ and Cl-, K+ and Cl-, as well as NH4+ and Cl- were 0.94, 0.90 and 0.84, respectively. Rainfall events affected the snowmelt initiation and provided an essential part of the discharge during the intense snowmelt period, which occurred from July 11 th to July 18 th 2008. Data showed that Na+ and K+ in the surface water derived from snowmelt rather than chemical weathering of silicates. Also, it was obtained that NO3- derived from the melting snowpack, whereas ammonification occurring under the snowpacks was the primary source for NH4+.     

Hydrochemical characteristics and solute dynamics of meltwater runoff of Urumqi Glacier No.1, eastern Tianshan, northwest China

Hydrochemical characteristics and solute dynamics of bulk meltwater draining from Urumqi Glacier No.1 were investigated in years 2006 and 2007.The glacial meltwater was slightly alkaline with the mean pH of 7.64 and 7.61 in 2006 and 2007,respectively.In the meltwater,the dominant anions were the bicarbonate and sulphate,and the dominant cation was calcium.The concentration of major cations were varied as c(Ca2+) > c(Mg2+) > c(K+) > c(Na+),while the order for the cations was c(HCO3) > c(SO42) > c(NO3) > c(Cl).The total dissolved solids(TDS) in meltwater had inverse relationships with the diurnal discharge.The major ion composition of meltwater was mainly controlled by rock weathering as inferred from the Gibbs model.Furthermore,the ion ratios and Piper diagram indicated that the main processes controlling the meltwater chemistry were carbonate weathering,pyrite weathering and feldspar weathering in rocks,and Ca2+ and HCO3 were the dominant ions during the carbonate weathering process.Solute flux calculation at Glacier No.1 station suggested that chemical denudation rates were 11.46 and 13.90 ton.km 2.yr 1 in 2006 and 2007,respectively.     

Chemical characteristics and environmental significance of fresh snow deposition on Urumqi Glacier No. 1 of Tianshan Mountains, China

Ice and snow chemistry of alpine glaciers is crucial for the research of regional atmospheric environment change. Fresh snow samples were weekly collected from Urumqi Glacier No.1 in the Tianshan Mountains, Xin- jiang, China, and the chemical characteristics and seasonal variations of major ions, mineral dust, δ18O and trace metals were measured. Results show that the concentrations of major ions in the snow are Ca2+ SO42- NH4+ NO3- Cl- Na+ Mg2+ K+, in which Ca2+ is the dominant cation, and SO42-is the dominant anion. All major ions have close positive correlations with each other except NO3-. δ18O shows positive correlation with air temperature change during the study period. Mineral dust particle and major ionic concentrations in fresh snow have obvious seasonal change, with high concentration in spring but low concentration in summer and autumn, which indicates that the chemical mass input from Asian dust activity to snow is very significant. Temporal changes of trace metals in fresh snow, e.g., Cd, Pb, Zn, Al, Fe, have shown that human-induced pollution of central Asian region also has large contribution to the snow chemistry on alpine glaciers of the Tianshan Mountains.     

Surface mass balance and ice flow of the glaciers Austre Lovénbreen and Pedersenbreen, Svalbard, Arctic

The glaciers Austre Lovenbreen and Pedersenbreen are located at Ny-Alesund, Svalbard. The surface mass balance and ice flow velocity of both glaciers have been determined from the first year of observations (2005/2006), while the front edge of Austre Lovenbreen was also surveyed. The results are as follows : (1) The net mass balances of Austre Lovenbreen and Pedersenbreen are -0. 44 and -0. 20 m w. e. , the annual ablation is -0. 99 and -0. 94 m w. e. . and the corresponding equilibrium line altitudes are 478. 10 and 494. 87 m, respectively. (2) Austre Lovenbreen and Pedersenbreen are characterized as ice flow models of surge-type glaciers in Svalbard. The horizontal vectors of the ice flow velocities are parallel or converge to the central lines of both glaciers, with lower velocities in the lower ablation areas and higher velocities in the middle and upper reaches of the glaciers. The vertical vectors of ice flow velocities show that there is a mass loss in the ablation areas, which reduces with increasing altitude, while there is a mass gain near the equilibrium line of Austre Lovenbreen. (3) The front edge of Austre Lovenbreen receded at an average rate of 21. 83 m·a-1, with remarkable variability-a maximum rate of 77. 30 m·a-1 and a minimum rate of 2. 76 m·a-1.     

Remote monitoriug ice velocities of the polar record and the Dark Glaciers

Measurement of ice velocities of the Antarctic glaciers is very important for studies on Antarctic ice and snow mass balance. The polar area environmental change and its influences on the global environment. Conventional methods may be used for measuring the ice velocities, but they suffer from severe weather conditions in the Polar areas. Use of satellite multi-spectral and muki-temporal images makes it easier to measure the velocities of the glacier movements. This paper discusses a new method for monitoring the glacial change by means of multi-temporal satellite images. Temporal remotely sensed images in the Ingrid Christensen coast were processed with respect to geometric rectification, registration and overlay, The average ice velocities of the Polar Record Glacier and the Dark Glacier were then calculated, with the changing characteristics analyzed and evaluated. The advantages of the method reported here include promise of all-weather operation and potentials of dynamic monitoring through suitabl     

Digital terrain modelling using Corona and ALOS PRISM data to investigate the distal part of Imja Glacier, Khumbu Himal, Nepal

This study used Corona KH-4A and Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) PRISM images to generate digital terrain models (DTMs) of the distal part of Imja Glacier,where a few supraglacial ponds (～0.07 km 2) expanded into the large Imja Glacier Lake (Imja Tsho,～0.91 km 2) between 1964 and 2006.DTMs and subsequently derived topographical maps with contour intervals of 1 m were created from the high-resolution images (Corona in 1964 and ALOS in 2006) in the Leica Photogrammetric Suite (LPS) platform.The DTMs and topographic maps provided excellent representation of the elevation and micro-topography of the glacier surface,such as its supra-glacial ponds/lake,surface depressions,and moraine ridges,with an error of about +/-4 m (maximum).The DTMs produced from the Corona and ALOS PRISM images are suitable for use in studies of the surface change of glaciers.The topographical maps produced from the Corona data (1964) showed that part of the dead ice in the down-glacier area was even higher than the top of the lateral moraine ridges,while the glacier surface in the up-glacier area was noticeably lower than the moraine crests.This suggests more extensive melting of glacier ice in the up-glacier area before 1964.The average lowering of the glacier surface from 1964 to 2006 was 16.9 m for the dead-ice area west of the lake and 47.4 m for the glacier surface east of the lake;between 1964 and 2002,the lake surface lowered by 82.3 m.These figures represent average lowering rates of 0.4,1.1,and 2.2 m/year for the respective areas.     

Coupled 2D Hydrodynamic and Sediment Transport Modeling of Megaflood due to Glacier Dam-break in Altai Mountains,Southern Siberia

One of the largest known megafloods on earth resulted from a glacier dam-break,which occurred during the Late Quaternary in the Altai Mountains in Southern Siberia.Computational modeling is one of the viable approaches to enhancing the understanding of the flood events.The computational domain of this flood is over 9460 km2 and about 3.784 × 106 cells are involved as a 50 m × 50 m mesh is used,which necessitates a computationally efficient model.Here the Open MP(Open Multiprocessing) technique is adopted to parallelize the code of a coupled 2D hydrodynamic and sediment transport model.It is shown that the computational efficiency is enhanced by over 80% due to the parallelization.The floods over both fixed and mobile beds are well reproduced with specified discharge hydrographs at the dam site.Qualitatively,backwater effects during the flood are resolved at the bifurcation between the Chuja and Katun rivers.Quantitatively,the computed maximum stage and thalweg are physically consistent with the field data of the bars and deposits.The effects of sediment transport and morphological evolution on the flood are considerable.Sensitivity analyses indicate that the impact of the peak discharge is significant,whilst those of the Manningroughness,medium sediment size and shape of the inlet discharge hydrograph are marginal.     

Atmospheric methane over the past 2000 years from a sub-tropical ice core,central Himalayas

A high-resolution 2000-year methane record has been constructed from an ice core recovered at 7200 m a.s.l. on the Dasuopu Glacier in the central Himalayas. This sub-tropical methane record reveals an increasing trend in the concentration of methane during the industrial era that is similar to observations from polar regions. However, we also observed the differences in the atmospheric methane mixing ratio between this monsoon record and those from polar regions during pre-industrial times. In the time interval 0-1850 A.D., the average methane concentration in the Dasuopu ice core was 782±40 ppbv and the maximum temporal variation exceeded 200 ppbv. The difference gradient of methane concentration in Dasuopu ice core with Greenland and Antarctica cores are 66±40 ppbv and 107±40 ppbv, respectively. This suggests that the tropical latitudes might have acted as a major global methane source in pre- industrial times. In addition, the temporal fluctuation of the pre-industrial methane records suggests that monsoon evolution incorporated with high methane emission from south Asia might be responsible for the relatively high methane concentration observed in the Dasuopu ice core around A.D. 800 and A.D. 1600. These results provide a rough understanding of the contribution of tropical methane source to the global methane budget and also the relationship between atmospheric methane and climate change.     

Distribution of borehole temperature at four high-altitude alpine glaciers in Central Asia

The distribution of borehole temperature at four high-altitude alpine glaciers was investigated. The result shows that the temperature ranges from -13.4℃ to -1.84℃, indicating the glaciers are cold throughout the boreholes. The negative gradient （i.e., the temperature decreasing with the increasing of depth） due to the advection of ice and climate warming, and the negative gradient moving downwards relates to climate warming, are probably responsible for the observed minimum temperature moving to lower depth in boreholes of the Gyabrag glacier and Miaoergou glacier compared to the previously investigated continental ice core borehole temperature in West China. The borehole temperature at 10m depth ranges from -8.0℃ in the Gyabrag glacier in the central Himalayas to -12.9℃ in the Tsabagarav glacier in the Altai range. The borehole temperature at 10 m depth is 3-4 degrees higher than the calculated mean annual air temperature on the surface of the glaciers and the higher 10 m depth temperature is mainly caused by the production of latent heat due to melt-water percolation and refreezing. The basal temperature is far below the melting point, indicating that the glaciers are frozen to bedrock. The very low temperature gradients near the bedrock suggest that the influence of geothermal flux and ice flow on basal temperature is very weak. The low temperature and small velocity of ice flow of glaciers are beneficial for preservation of the chemical and isotopic information in ice cores.     

Modeling the Roles of Precipitation Increasing in Glacier Systems Responding to Climate Warming —— Taking Xinjiang Glaciated Region as Example

The studies on prediction of climate in Xinjiang almost show that the precipitation would increase in the coming 50 years, although there were surely some uncertainties in precipitation predictions. On the basis of the structure of glacier system and nature of equilibrium line altitude at steady state （ELAo）, a functional model of the glacier system responding to climate changes was established, and it simultaneously involved the rising of summer mean temperature and increasing of mean precipitation. The results from the functional model under the climatic scenarios with temperature increasing rates of 0.01, 0.03 and 0.05 K/year indicated that the precipitation increasing would play an evident role in glacier system responding to climate change： if temperature become 1 ℃ higher, the precipitation would be increased by 10%, which can slow down the glaciers retreating rate in the area by 4 %, accelerate runoff increasing rate by 8 % and depress the ELAo rising gradient by 24 m in northern Xinjiang glacier system where semi-continental glaciers dominate, while it has corresponding values of only 1%, 5 % and 18m respectively in southern Xinjiang glacier system, where extremely continental glaciers dominate.     

Preliminary Results on Hydrological and Hydrochemical Features of Kartamak Glacier Area in Mt. Muztag Ata

The variations of the meltwater runoff draining from Kartamak Glacier in Mt. Muztag Ata in China were studied by using the measured hydrological data from 1 June to 25 August 2003. The meltwater runoff is mainly affected by ambient temperature and precipitation. Meltwater and precipitation samples were collected from 10 to 23 August 2003. Their pH, EC (electric conductivity) and the major ions (Na~ , K~ , Ca~(2 ), Mg~(2 ), Cl~-, NO_3~-, SO_~4~(2-)) were determined. pH values showed a positive correlation with EC values for all samples. Meltwater samples were slightly alkaline. Sulfate and calcium were the dominant anion and cation in the measured ions, respectively. All the ion concentrations had inverse relationships with runoff or water level. In order to discuss the origins of dissolved chemical substances in the glacial meltwater, a principal component analysis was carried out. The results showed that water-rock interaction determined the ion components of the meltwater.     

Inventory and geometrical changes in small glaciers covering three Northern Patagonian summits using remote sensing and GIS techniques

In the last few decades, a large quantity of research has been performed to elucidate the current behavior of glaciers in southern Chile, especially with respect to the volumetric changes in the outlets of the Northern and Southern Patagonian Icefields (NPI and SPI, respectively). Calculations have shown a generalized thinning and withdrawal, which greatly contributes to the increase in sea level attributed to the ice melt from non-polar glaciers. However, these icefields are surrounded by many small icecaps, which have yet to be studied in detail. A precise estimation of the volume of ice located in these mountain chains could provide new information with respect to this area's exact contribution to the increase in sea level. Thus, this study presents an inventory of relatively small Northern Patagonian glaciers in the surrounding of the three summits: Mount Queulat, and the Macá and Hudson volcanoes. The study used remote sensing techniques in a GIS environment to determine the margins, surface areas, thickness changes and hypsometry for the glaciated zones. Landsat images from different dates were analyzed using standard band ratio and screen delineation techniques. Additionally, digital elevation models from different dates were compared using map algebra, calculating thickness changes. Based on the results, we propose that there are important volumetric changes in the glaciers studied, which could be explained by precipitation trends in a general context, and an influence of the glaciers' sizes in some local response. Therefore, we suggest the exact contribution of the Patagonia to the increase in sea level corresponds to a regional pattern rather than just the behavior of a single ice field.