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Glacier mass balance and its climatic and nonclimatic drivers in the Ladakh region during 2000–2021 from remote sensing data J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2024-03-20 Arindan Mandal, Bramha Dutt Vishwakarma, Thupstan Angchuk, Mohd Farooq Azam, Purushottam Kumar Garg, Mohd Soheb
This study investigates the geodetic mass balance of nearly all glaciers in the Ladakh region, which are crucial for local water security. Utilizing multiple digital elevation models from 2000 and 2021, we estimate glacier mass balances. Climatic drivers of glacier mass balances are explored using ERA5-Land reanalysis data, evaluated by in situ climate data. The study also examines the role of nonclimatic
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A glaciotectonic landform in the Shyok valley, Trans-Himalayan Karakoram Range, India J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2024-03-01 Abdul Qayoom Paul, Harish Bahuguna, Parveen Kumar
This study reports and discusses the first case of glaciotectonic landforms in the Shyok valley of the Trans-Himalayan Karakoram Range, Ladakh, where a large decomposed granite megablock (8.2 km2) along with underlying diamicton is thrust over the unconsolidated Quaternary glaciofluvial sediments along a fault gouge zone near the village of Khalsar. The absence of deformation signatures below the fault
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Formation and persistence of glaciovolcanic voids explored with analytical and numerical models J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2024-02-26 Tryggvi Unnsteinsson, Gwenn E. Flowers, Glyn Williams-Jones
One fifth of Earth's volcanoes are covered by snow or ice and many have active geothermal systems that interact with the overlying ice. These glaciovolcanic interactions can melt voids into glaciers, and are subject to controls exerted by ice dynamics and geothermal heat output. Glaciovolcanic voids have been observed to form prior to volcanic eruptions, which raised concerns when such features were
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Angle of repose of granulated ice: effect of wood ash J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2024-02-14 William M. Harris, Andrii Murdza, Erland M. Schulson
New experiments have revealed that the addition of a small amount of wood ash doubles the angle of repose of granulated ice at −10°C, but has little effect at −30°C. It is hypothesized that this behavior may be explained in terms of the freezing of water that is formed at the higher temperature through the reaction of salt within the ash.
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MODIS land surface temperature in East Antarctica: accuracy and its main affecting factors J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2024-02-14 Zhaosheng Zhai, Yetang Wang, Carleen H. Reijmer, Paul C. J. P. Smeets, Xueying Zhang, Wuying Zhang
Recently released Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) land surface temperature (LST) collection 6.1 (C6.1) products are useful for understanding ice–atmosphere interactions over East Antarctica, but their accuracy should be known prior to application. This study assessed Level 2 and Level 3 MODIS C6.1 LST products (MxD11_L2 and MxD11C1) in comparison with the radiance-derived in situ
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Recent change in surface mass-balance trends of glaciers on James Ross Island, north-eastern Antarctic Peninsula J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2024-02-08 Zbyněk Engel, Kamil Láska, Jana Smolíková, Jan Kavan
Glaciers cover 132 900 km2 around the Antarctic Ice Sheet, but few are subject to annual mass-balance measurements. Lookalike Glacier and Davies Dome on James Ross Island have been monitored since 2009, providing the third longest mass-balance record for the northern Antarctic Peninsula. These glaciers had a balanced mass budget over the period 2009/10–2014/15 but started to lose their mass thereafter
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Validating ensemble historical simulations of Upernavik Isstrøm (1985–2019) using observations of surface velocity and elevation J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2024-02-05 Eliot Jager, Fabien Gillet-Chaulet, Jérémie Mouginot, Romain Millan
The future of tidewater glaciers in response to climate warming is one of the largest sources of uncertainty in the contribution of the Greenland ice sheet to global sea-level rise. In this study, we investigate the ability of an ice-sheet model to reproduce the past evolution of the velocity and surface elevation of a tidewater glacier, Upernavik Isstrøm, by prescribing front positions. To achieve
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Response of lacustrine glacier dynamics to atmospheric forcing in the Cordillera Darwin J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2024-02-05 Lukas Langhamer, Tobias Sauter, Franziska Temme, Niklas Werner, Florian Heinze, Jorge Arigony-Neto, Inti Gonzalez, Ricardo Jaña, Christoph Schneider
Calving glaciers respond quickly to atmospheric variability through ice dynamic adjustment. Particularly, single weather extremes may cause changes in ice-flow velocity and terminus position. Occasionally, this can lead to substantial event-driven mass loss at the ice front. We examine changes in terminus position, ice-flow velocity, and calving flux at the grounded lacustrine Schiaparelli Glacier
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Sub-regional variability in the influence of ice-contact lakes on Himalayan glaciers J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2024-02-02 Alex C. Scoffield, Ann V. Rowan, Duncan J. Quincey, Jonathan L. Carrivick, Andrew J. Sole, Simon J. Cook
Ice-contact lakes modify glacier geometry and dynamics by shifting the majority of mass loss from the ice surface to the terminus. Lake-terminating glaciers are known to experience greater thinning rates and higher velocities than land-terminating glaciers, but the controls on variability in surface elevation change and ice flow between lake-terminating glaciers in different regions remain poorly explored
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Greater than the sum of its parts: optical remote sensing and sediment core data provide a holistic perspective on glacial processes J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2024-01-29 Henry Jacob Miller Gage, Carolyn Hope Eyles
In this letter we make the case that closer integration of sediment core and passive optical remote sensing data would provide new insights into past and contemporary glacio-sedimentary processes. Sediment cores are frequently used to study past glacial processes and environments as they contain a lengthy geochemical and sedimentological record of changing conditions. In contrast, optical remote sensing
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Heatwaves in summer 2022 forces substantial mass loss for Urumqi Glacier No. 1, China J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2024-01-22 Chunhai Xu, Huilin Li, Feiteng Wang, Zhongqin Li, Ping Zhou, Shuangshuang Liu
Extreme heat events in the summer of 2022 were observed in Eurasia, North America and China. Glaciers are a unique indicator of climate change, and the European Alps experienced substantial glacier mass loss as a result of the conditions in 2022, which prompted a wide range of community concerns. However, relevant findings for glaciers in China have not been currently reported. Here, we document the
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Development of a sea-ice tank system for measuring microwave properties of sea ice J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2024-01-19 Masashige Nakayama, Kazuhiro Naoki, Tomonori Tanikawa, Kohei Cho
An outdoor sea-ice tank system for measuring the microwave properties of sea ice has been developed. With the natural cooling and the help of a cooling unit in the movable roof attached to the tank, the system can grow sea ice to about 50 cm thickness continuously without the effects of snowfall and/or melting. Portable microwave radiometers are attached beside the tank to measure the brightness temperature
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Snow effects on brash ice and level ice growth J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2024-01-15 Vasiola Zhaka, Robert Bridges, Kaj Riska, Jonny Nilimaa, Andrzej Cwirzen
Brash ice formation and accumulation occur at a faster rate in ship channels, harbours and turning areas compared to the surrounding level ice. Accurate prediction of brash ice thickness plays an important role in addressing operational challenges and optimisation of ice management strategies. This study enhances existing brash ice growth models by considering the effects of snow and accounting for
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What can radar-based measures of subglacial hydrology tell us about basal shear stress? A case study at Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2024-01-15 Rohaiz Haris, Winnie Chu, Alexander Robel
Ice sheet models use observations to infer basal shear stress, but the variety of methods and datasets available has resulted in a wide range of estimates. Radar-based metrics such as reflectivity and specularity content have been used to characterize subglacial hydrologic conditions that are linked to spatial variations in basal shear stress. We explore whether radar metrics can be used to inform
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Annual mass-balance time series of Dongkemadi Glacier, 2000–20, from a linear albedo-based model using geodetic data and validated with the glaciological method J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2024-01-15 Lin Liu, Zhimin Zhang, Yongling Sun, Xuguo Shi, Liming Jiang
Long-term time series of annual glacier mass balance is important for revealing a glacier's response to regional climate variations. However, for the Tibetan Plateau, time series of annual glacier mass balance with more than 10 consecutive years remains scarce due to the inaccessibility and harsh climate conditions. In this study, we established an albedo-based model to reconstruct annual glacier mass
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Theoretical and experimental study on cutting temperature in the presence of drilling fluid during ice-core drilling J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2024-01-12 Zhuo Chen, Pinlu Cao, Han Wang, He Yang, Qilei Yin
Warm ice at temperatures close to the pressure melting point is often encountered in deep ice-core drilling. The heat generated by rotary cutting can melt ice chips, which seriously threatens the safety of drilling if the chips refreeze on the drill bit or barrel. Lowering the cutting heat is an effective method to reduce the melting of ice chips. In this study, a general theoretical model was established
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Investigating the past, present and future responses of Shallap and Zongo Glaciers, Tropical Andes, to the El Niño Southern Oscillation J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2024-01-10 Alasdair Richardson, Rachel Carr, Simon Cook
Tropical Andean glaciers are highly sensitive to climate change and are impacted by the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). However, glaciological data are scarce, meaning that there are substantial knowledge gaps in the response of Andean glaciers to future anthropogenic and ENSO forcing and these are crucial to address, as glaciers represent a key water source for downstream populations and ecosystems
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Propagating speedups during quiescence escalate to the 2020–2021 surge of Sít’ Kusá, southeast Alaska J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2024-01-09 Jukes Liu, Ellyn M. Enderlin, Timothy C. Bartholomaus, Yoram Terleth, Thomas Dylan Mikesell, Flavien Beaud
We use satellite image processing techniques to measure surface elevation and velocity changes on a temperate surging glacier, Sít’ Kusá, throughout its entire 2013–2021 surge cycle. We present detailed records of its dynamic changes during quiescence (2013–2019) and its surge progression (2020–2021). Throughout quiescence, we observe order-of-magnitude speedups that propagate down-glacier seasonally
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Controls of lithology and climate over chemical weathering trends: new insights from the precipitation-dominated Dokriani glacier, central Himalaya, India J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2024-01-05 Shipika Sundriyal, Tanuj Shukla, Shichang Kang, Yulan Zhang, Dwarika Prasad Dobhal, Rajesh Singh
The chemical composition of meltwater-draining Himalayan glacierized basins reflects the dominance of carbonic acid in weathering of silicate and carbonate minerals, yet the role of sulfuric acid-mediated reactions in the mineral weathering and ionic release is still unclear. Here, we present a long-term study (1992–2018) of chemical weathering characteristics of a precipitation-dominated glacierized
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Foehn winds influence surface ablation on Glaciar Perito Moreno, southern Patagonian icefield J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2024-01-04 Masahiro Minowa, Pedro Skvarca, Koji Fujita
The southern Patagonian glaciers are known for having extremely high ablation rates. Foehn winds are one of the suspected causes, however, their influence on the annual ablation, their interannual variations, and their relationship with climate change is not well understood. We analysed the in-situ meteorological data from 2003–2020 recorded at Glaciar Perito Moreno. Daily temperature lapse rates varied
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The importance of sub-meter-scale snow roughness on conductive heat flux of Arctic sea ice J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2024-01-04 David Clemens-Sewall, Chris Polashenski, Don Perovich, Melinda Anne Webster
The conductive heat flux through the snow and ice is a critical component of the mass and energy budgets in the Arctic sea ice system. We use high horizontal resolution (3–15 cm) measurements of snow topography to explore the impacts of sub-meter-scale snow surface roughness on heat flux as simulated by the Finite Element method. Simulating horizontal heat flux in a variable snow cover modestly increases
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Performance characterization of a new, low-cost multi-GNSS instrument for the cryosphere J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2024-01-04 Derek James Pickell, Robert Lyman Hawley
We developed a multi-frequency, multi-Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) positioning instrument optimized for autonomous applications in the cryosphere. At lower power requirements and a fraction of the cost and weight compared to commercially available options, this instrument simplifies field usage and associated logistics. In this paper, we assess several baseline aspects of performance in
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How to handle glacier area change in geodetic mass balance J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2023-12-21 Caitlyn Florentine, Louis Sass, Christopher McNeil, Emily Baker, Shad O'Neel
Innovations in geodesy enable widespread analysis of glacier surface elevation change and geodetic mass balance. However, coincident glacier area data are less widely available, causing inconsistent handling of glacier area change. Here we quantify the bias introduced into meters water equivalent (m w.e.) specific geodetic mass balance results when using a fixed, maximum glacier area, and illustrate
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Rapid and synchronous response of outlet glaciers to ocean warming on the Barents Sea coast, Novaya Zemlya J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2023-12-18 Rachel Carr, Zoe Murphy, Peter Nienow, Livia Jakob, Noel Gourmelen
The Arctic is a hotspot for climate warming, making it crucial to quantify the sea level rise contribution from its ice masses. Novaya Zemlya's ice caps are the largest glacier complex in Europe and are a major contributor to contemporary sea level rise. Here we show that Novaya Zemlya outlet glaciers on the Barents Sea coast respond rapidly and consistently to oceanic forcing at annual timescales
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Meteorological drivers of melt at two nearby glaciers in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2023-12-18 Marte G. Hofsteenge, Nicolas J. Cullen, Jonathan P. Conway, Carleen H. Reijmer, Michiel R. van den Broeke, Marwan Katurji
We study the meteorological drivers of melt at two glaciers in Taylor Valley, Antarctica, using 22 years of weather station observations and surface energy fluxes. The glaciers are located only 30 km apart, but have different local climates; Taylor Glacier is generally drier and windier than Commonwealth Glacier, which receives more snowfall due to its proximity to the coast. Commonwealth Glacier shows
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Improved representation of laminar and turbulent sheet flow in subglacial drainage models J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2023-12-12 Tim Hill, Gwenn Elizabeth Flowers, Matthew James Hoffman, Derek Bingham, Mauro Angelo Werder
Subglacial hydrology models struggle to reproduce seasonal drainage patterns that are consistent with observed subglacial water pressures and surface velocities. We modify the standard sheet-flow parameterization within a coupled sheet–channel subglacial drainage model to smoothly transition between laminar and turbulent flow based on the locally computed Reynolds number in a physically consistent
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Radar internal reflection horizons from multisystem data reflect ice dynamic and surface accumulation history along the Princess Ragnhild Coast, Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2023-12-12 Inka Koch, Reinhard Drews, Steven Franke, Daniela Jansen, Falk Marius Oraschewski, Leah Sophie Muhle, Vjeran Višnjević, Kenichi Matsuoka, Frank Pattyn, Olaf Eisen
Ice shelves, which regulate ice flow from the Antarctic ice sheet towards the ocean, are shaped by spatiotemporal patterns of surface accumulation, surface/basal melt and ice dynamics. Therefore, an ice dynamic and accumulation history are imprinted in the internal ice stratigraphy, which can be imaged by radar in the form of internal reflection horizons (IRHs). Here, IRHs were derived from radar data
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Oscillatory response of Larsen C Ice Shelf flow to the calving of iceberg A-68 J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2023-12-11 Katherine A. Deakin, Frazer D. W. Christie, Karla Boxall, Ian C. Willis
The collapse of several ice shelves in the Antarctic Peninsula since the late 20th century has resulted in the upstream acceleration of multiple formerly buttressed outlet glaciers, raising questions about the stability of Antarctica's remaining ice shelves and the effects their demise may have upon inland ice. Here, we use high temporal resolution Sentinel-1A/B synthetic aperture radar-derived observations
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Controls on calving at a large Greenland tidewater glacier: stress regime, self-organised criticality and the crevasse-depth calving law J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2023-12-05 Douglas I. Benn, Joe Todd, Adrian Luckman, Suzanne Bevan, Thomas R. Chudley, Jan Åström, Thomas Zwinger, Samuel Cook, Poul Christoffersen
We investigate the physical basis of the crevasse-depth (CD) calving law by analysing relationships between glaciological stresses and calving behaviour at Sermeq Kujalleq (Store Glacier), Greenland. Our observations and model simulations show that the glacier has a stable position defined by a compressive arch between lateral pinning points. Ice advance beyond the arch results in calving back to the
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The relationship between the permeability and liquid water content of polycrystalline temperate ice J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2023-12-04 Jacob R. Fowler, Neal R. Iverson
To better constrain meltwater transport and ice viscosity in temperate glaciers, particularly in ice stream shear margins, we use a custom permeameter to study the untested model relationship between the permeability of temperate ice and its liquid water content. The permeability of lab-made ice of two mean grain diameters (1.8 and 4.2 mm) is measured, and water content is controlled with the ice salinity
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Observing glacier dynamics with low-cost, multi-GNSS positioning in Victoria Land, Antarctica J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2023-11-30 Holly Still, Robert Odolinski, M. Hamish Bowman, Christina Hulbe, David J. Prior
This study examines the performance of low-cost, low-power GNSS positioning systems for glacier monitoring in high-latitude environments. We compare the positioning performance of co-located low-cost u-blox ZED-F9P GNSS units (a few hundred USDs) and survey-grade Trimble R10 units (> $10,000 USD) under stationary (on land) and dynamic (on glacier) conditions near Terra Nova Bay, Antarctica. Low-cost
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Exceptional thinning through the entire altitudinal range of Mont-Blanc glaciers during the 2021/22 mass balance year J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2023-11-29 Etienne Berthier, Christian Vincent, Delphine Six
Widespread glacier losses have been observed in most glaciated regions on Earth during recent decades, with a typical pattern of strong thinning in their lower reaches and limited elevation changes in their accumulation areas. Here, we use Pléiades satellite stereo-images of the Mont-Blanc massif (Alps) to reveal that thinning took place through the entire elevation range during the exceptional 2021/22
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Modelled frontal ablation and velocities at Kronebreen, Svalbard, are sensitive to the choice of submarine melt rate scenario J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2023-11-29 Felicity Alice Holmes, Eef van Dongen, Nina Kirchner
Both submarine melt and calving are important for the overall mass balance of marine-terminating glaciers, but uncertainty is rife with regards to the magnitude of the processes. Modelling allows for these processes to be investigated without the need to visit inaccessible ice marginal zones. This study looks at the impact of different submarine melt and sea-ice back pressure scenarios on modelled
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Capturing the transition from marine to land-terminating glacier from the 126-year retreat history of Nordenskiöldbreen, Svalbard J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2023-11-24 Jan Kavan, Petra Luláková, Jakub Małecki, Mateusz Czesław Strzelecki
Svalbard has experienced a dramatic increase in air temperature and glacier retreat since the end of the Little Ice Age. In many cases, this retreat has resulted in glaciers transitioning from being marine-terminating to land-terminating. Nordenskiöldbreen is an excellent contemporary example of this transition. A set of historical observations of glacier front positions was used to assess Nordenskiöldbreen's
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Semantic segmentation of glaciological features across multiple remote sensing platforms with the Segment Anything Model (SAM) J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2023-11-24 Siddharth Shankar, Leigh A. Stearns, C. J. van der Veen
Semantic segmentation is a critical part of observation-driven research in glaciology. Using remote sensing to quantify how features change (e.g. glacier termini, supraglacial lakes, icebergs, crevasses) is particularly important in polar regions, where glaciological features may be spatially small but reflect important shifts in boundary conditions. In this study, we assess the utility of the Segment
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Development of a drone-based ground-penetrating radar system for efficient and safe 3D and 4D surveying of alpine glaciers J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2023-11-23 Bastien Ruols, Ludovic Baron, James Irving
Recent research has highlighted the potential for high-resolution, high-density, 3D and 4D ground-penetrating radar (GPR) acquisitions on alpine glaciers. When carried out on foot, such surveys are laborious and time consuming, which limits their application to small domains of limited glaciological interest. Further, crevasses and other hazards make the data acquisition risky. To address these issues
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Ice geometry and thermal regime of Lyngmarksbræen Ice Cap, West Greenland J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2023-11-10 Mette Kusk Gillespie, Jacob Clement Yde, Marit Svarstad Andresen, Michele Citterio, Mark Andrew Kusk Gillespie
Observations remain sparse for peripheral glaciers and ice caps in Greenland. Here, we present the results of a multi-frequency radar survey of Lyngmarksbræen Ice Cap in West Greenland conducted in April 2017. Radar measurements show thick ice of up to ~120 m in subglacial valleys associated with the largest outlet glaciers, while relatively thin ice cover the upper plateau ice divides, suggesting
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Deciphering stable water isotope records of firn cores from a strongly maritime, high-accumulation site on the Antarctic Peninsula J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2023-11-08 Kirstin Hoffmann-Abdi, Hanno Meyer, Francisco Fernandoy, Johannes Freitag, Fyntan M. Shaw, Martin Werner, Elizabeth R. Thomas, Joseph R. McConnell, Christoph Schneider
Stable water isotope records of six firn cores retrieved from two adjacent plateaus on the northern Antarctic Peninsula between 2014 and 2016 are presented and investigated for their connections with firn-core glacio-chemical data, meteorological records and modelling results. Average annual accumulation rates of 2500 kg m−2 a−1 largely reduce the modification of isotopic signals in the snowpack by
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Reconstructing subglacial lake activity with an altimetry-based inverse method J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2023-11-08 Aaron G. Stubblefield, Colin R. Meyer, Matthew R. Siegfried, Wilson Sauthoff, Marc Spiegelman
Subglacial lake water-volume changes produce ice-elevation anomalies that provide clues about water flow beneath glaciers and ice sheets. Significant challenges remain in the quantitative interpretation of these elevation-change anomalies because the surface expression of subglacial lake activity depends on basal conditions, rate of water-volume change, and ice rheology. To address these challenges
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Simulating higher-order fabric structure in a coupled, anisotropic ice-flow model: application to Dome C J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2023-11-07 David A. Lilien, Nicholas M. Rathmann, Christine S. Hvidberg, Aslak Grinsted, M. Reza Ershadi, Reinhard Drews, Dorthe Dahl-Jensen
Ice-crystal fabric can induce mechanical anisotropy that significantly affects flow, but ice-flow models generally do not include fabric development or its effect upon flow. Here, we incorporate a new spectral expansion of fabric, and more complete description of its evolution, into the ice-flow model Elmer/Ice. This approach allows us to model the effect of both lattice rotation and migration recrystallization
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Spatial pattern of glacier mass balance sensitivity to atmospheric forcing in High Mountain Asia J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2023-11-07 Anselm Arndt, Christoph Schneider
The complex topography and size of High Mountain Asia (HMA) result in large differences in glacier mass-balance variability and climate sensitivity. Current understanding of these sensitivities is limited by simplifications in past studies’ model structure. This study overcomes this limitation by using a mass-balance model to investigate the climatic mass-balance variability and climate sensitivity
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A new model of dry firn-densification constrained by continuous strain measurements near South Pole J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2023-11-06 C. Max Stevens, David A. Lilien, Howard Conway, T. J. Fudge, Michelle R. Koutnik, Edwin D. Waddington
Converting measurements of ice-sheet surface elevation change to mass change requires measurements of accumulation and knowledge of the evolution of the density profile in the firn. Most firn-densification models are tuned using measured depth–density profiles, a method which is based on an assumption that the density profile in the firn is invariant through time. Here we present continuous measurements
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Characterizing bed roughness on the Antarctic continental margin J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2023-10-31 Santiago Munevar Garcia, Lauren Elizabeth Miller, Francesca Anna Maria Falcini, Leigh Asher Stearns
Spatial variability in bed topography, characterized as bed roughness, impacts ice-sheet flow and organization and can be used to infer subglacial conditions and processes, yet is difficult to quantify due to sparse observations. Paleo-subglacial beds of formerly expanded glaciers found across the Antarctic continental shelf are well preserved, have relatively limited post-glacial sediment cover and
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Historical occurrence of Antarctic icebergs within mercantile shipping routes and the exceptional events of the 1890s J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2023-10-27 Robert Keith Headland, Nicholas Edward Hughes, Jeremy Paul Wilkinson
A major consideration for maritime activity in the Southern Hemisphere is the northern limit of icebergs, or the Southern Ocean Limit Of Known Ice (SOLOKI). This analysis of historical reports of icebergs during Southern Hemisphere voyages from 1687 to 1933 provides a basis for examination of their geographical and chronological occurrence during ~250 years. The analyses use tabulated data from 742
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Measuring seismic attenuation in polar firn: method and application to Korff Ice Rise, West Antarctica J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2023-10-26 Ronan S. Agnew, Roger A. Clark, Adam D. Booth, Alex M. Brisbourne, Andrew M. Smith
We present seismic measurements of the firn column at Korff Ice Rise, West Antarctica, including measurements of compressional-wave velocity and attenuation. We describe a modified spectral-ratio method of measuring the seismic quality factor (Q) based on analysis of diving waves, which, combined with a stochastic method of error propagation, enables us to characterise the attenuative structure of
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Radiofrequency ice dielectric measurements at Summit Station, Greenland J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2023-10-09 Juan Antonio Aguilar, Patrick Allison, Dave Besson, Abby Bishop, Olga Botner, Sjoerd Bouma, Stijn Buitink, Maddalena Cataldo, Brian A. Clark, Kenny Couberly, Zach Curtis-Ginsberg, Paramita Dasgupta, Simon de Kockere, Krijn D. de Vries, Cosmin Deaconu, Michael A. DuVernois, Anna Eimer, Christian Glaser, Allan Hallgren, Steffen Hallmann, Jordan Christian Hanson, Bryan Hendricks, Jakob Henrichs, Nils
We recently reported on the radio-frequency attenuation length of cold polar ice at Summit Station, Greenland, based on bi-static radar measurements of radio-frequency bedrock echo strengths taken during the summer of 2021. Those data also allow studies of (a) the relative contributions of coherent (such as discrete internal conducting layers with sub-centimeter transverse scale) vs incoherent (e.g
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The speedup of Pine Island Ice Shelf between 2017 and 2020: revaluating the importance of ice damage J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2023-10-09 Sainan Sun, G. Hilmar Gudmundsson
From 2017 to 2020, three significant calving events took place on Pine Island Glacier, West Antarctica. Ice-shelf velocities changed over this period and the calving events have been suggested as possible drivers. However, satellite observations also show significant changes in the areal extent of fracture zones, especially in the marginal areas responsible for providing lateral support to the ice
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Temporal downscaling of glaciological mass balance using seasonal observations J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2023-10-09 Michael Zemp, Ethan Welty
Glaciological mass-balance measurements have been the backbone of internationally coordinated glacier monitoring. The resulting annual observations have been used to understand glacier reactions to climate change, and to assess both regional and global glacier mass changes and related contributions to runoff and sea-level rise. However, the comparability of annual observations is hampered by differences
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Tracking coarse sediment in an Alpine subglacial channel using radio-tagged particles J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2023-10-09 Matt Jenkin, Margaux Hofmann, Bryn Hubbard, Davide Mancini, Floreana M. Miesen, Frédéric Herman, Stuart N. Lane
We present a method for tracking radio-tagged pebbles and cobbles through subglacial meltwater channels under shallow temperate glaciers. Natural particles tagged with active radio transmitters were injected directly into a large subglacial channel 300 m up-glacier from the terminus of the Glacier d'Otemma, Switzerland. A roving antenna was developed to localise tagged particles planimetrically in
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Coupled climate-glacier modelling of the last glaciation in the Alps J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2023-10-06 Guillaume Jouvet, Denis Cohen, Emmanuele Russo, Jonathan Buzan, Christoph C. Raible, Wilfried Haeberli, Sarah Kamleitner, Susan Ivy-Ochs, Michael A. Imhof, Jens K. Becker, Angela Landgraf, Urs H. Fischer
Our limited knowledge of the climate prevailing over Europe during former glaciations is the main obstacle to reconstruct the past evolution of the ice coverage over the Alps by numerical modelling. To address this challenge, we perform a two-step modelling approach: First, a regional climate model is used to downscale the time slice simulations of a global earth system model in high resolution, leading
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Beyond the Stokes approximation: shallow visco-elastic ice-sheet models J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2023-09-28 Jeremy N. Bassis, Samuel B. Kachuck
The hypothesis that ice-sheet evolution is only controlled by the long-term non-Newtonian viscous behavior of ice has been challenged by observations indicating that effects like brittle failure, stick-slip sliding, tides and wave action may affect ice-sheet evolution on sub-daily timescales. Over these timescales, the quasi-static-creep approximation is no longer appropriate and elastic effects become
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Constraints on subglacial melt fluxes from observations of active subglacial lake recharge J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2023-09-26 George Malczyk, Noel Gourmelen, Mauro Werder, Martin Wearing, Dan Goldberg
Active subglacial lakes provide a rare glimpse of the subglacial environment and hydrological processes at play. Several studies contributed to establishing active subglacial lake inventories and document lake drainage and connection, but few focused on the period between lake drainage when the melt production and transport contribute to the refilling of these lakes. In this study, we employ high-resolution
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Ice-flow model emulator based on physics-informed deep learning J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2023-09-26 Guillaume Jouvet, Guillaume Cordonnier
Convolutional neural networks (CNN) trained from high-order ice-flow model realisations have proven to be outstanding emulators in terms of fidelity and computational performance. However, the dependence on an ensemble of realisations of an instructor model renders this strategy difficult to generalise to a variety of ice-flow regimes found in the nature. To overcome this issue, we adopt the approach
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Seasonal changes in submarine melting mechanisms controlling frontal ablation of Hansbreen, Svalbard J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2023-09-26 Michał Ciepły, Dariusz Ignatiuk, Mateusz Moskalik, Jacek Jania, Bartłomiej Luks, Oskar Głowacki, Kacper Wojtysiak
We describe the annual pattern of frontal ablation driven by submarine melting mechanisms at the Hansbreen terminus: these are reflected in the intensity and spatial distribution of calving events. Analysis of time-lapse images of the Hansbreen front in conjunction with oceanographic and meteorological data shows that calving intensity is driven primarily by seawater temperature. Regression analysis
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Examining the effect of ice dynamic changes on subglacial hydrology through modelling of a synthetic Antarctic glacier J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2023-09-21 Anna-Mireilla Hayden, Christine F. Dow
Hydrologic pathways beneath ice sheets and glaciers play an important role in regulating ice flow. Antarctica has experienced, and will continue to experience, changes in ice dynamics and geometry, but the associated changes in subglacial hydrology have received less attention. Here, we use the GlaDS subglacial hydrology model to examine drainage evolution beneath an idealised Antarctic glacier in
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Ground penetrating radar in temperate ice: englacial water inclusions as limiting factor for data interpretation J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2023-09-21 Christophe Ogier, Dirk-Jan van Manen, Hansruedi Maurer, Ludovic Räss, Marian Hertrich, Andreas Bauder, Daniel Farinotti
Ground penetrating radar (GPR) has been extensively used in glaciology to infer glacier's ice thickness, liquid water content, water drainage pathways, and other properties. The interpretation of such GPR data is not always straightforward and for temperate glaciers, the signal is often affected by strong scattering and attenuation. It has often been suggested that such effects originate from englacial
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Simulating the processes controlling ice-shelf rift paths using damage mechanics J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2023-09-21 Alex Huth, Ravindra Duddu, Benjamin Smith, Olga Sergienko
Rifts are full-thickness fractures that propagate laterally across an ice shelf. They cause ice-shelf weakening and calving of tabular icebergs, and control the initial size of calved icebergs. Here, we present a joint inverse and forward computational modeling framework to capture rifting by combining the vertically integrated momentum balance and anisotropic continuum damage mechanics formulations
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A novel laser melting sampler for discrete, sub-centimeter depth-resolved analyses of stable water isotopes in ice cores J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2023-09-19 Yuko Motizuki, Yoichi Nakai, Kazuya Takahashi, Junya Hirose, Yu Vin Sahoo, Masaki Yumoto, Masayuki Maruyama, Michio Sakashita, Kiwamu Kase, Satoshi Wada, Hideaki Motoyama, Yasushige Yano
We developed a novel laser melting sampler (LMS) for ice cores to measure the stable water isotope ratios (δ18O and δD) as temperature proxies at sub-centimeter depth resolutions. In this LMS system, a 2 mm diameter movable evacuation nozzle holds an optical fiber through which a laser beam irradiates the ice core. The movable nozzle intrudes into the ice core, the laser radiation meanwhile melts the
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Detection and characterization of discontinuous motion on Thompson Glacier, Canadian High Arctic, using synthetic aperture radar speckle tracking and ice-flow modeling J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2023-09-06 Giovanni Corti, Bernhard Rabus, Gwenn E. Flowers
We investigate unusual discontinuous glacier motion on Thompson Glacier, Umingmat Nunaat, Arctic Canada, using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images and ice-flow modeling. A novel intensity-rescaling scheme is developed to reduce errors in high-resolution speckle tracking, resulting in a ~25% improvement in accuracy. Interferometric SAR (InSAR) and speckle tracking using high resolution RADARSAT-2
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Estimating the elastic modulus of landfast ice from wave observations J. Glaciol. (IF 3.4) Pub Date : 2023-09-06 Joey J. Voermans, Jean Rabault, Aleksey Marchenko, Takehiko Nose, Takuji Waseda, Alexander V. Babanin
Progress in our understanding of wave–ice interactions is currently hindered by the lack of in situ observations and information of sea-ice properties, including the elastic modulus. Here, we estimate the effective elastic modulus of sea ice using observations of waves in ice through the deployment of three open-source geophone recorders on landfast sea ice. From observations of low-frequency dispersive