Field data and numerical modeling show that glaciations have the potential either to enhance relief or to dampen topography. We aim to model the effect of the subglacial hydraulic system on ...spatiotemporal patterns of glacial erosion by abrasion and quarrying on time scales commensurate with drainage system fluctuations (e.g., seasonal to annual). We use a numerical model that incorporates a dual-morphology subglacial drainage system coupled to a higher-order ice-flow model and process-specific erosion laws. The subglacial drainage system allows for a dynamic transition between two morphologies: the distributed system, characterized by an increase in basal water pressure with discharge, and the channelized system, which exhibits a decrease in equilibrium water pressure with increasing discharge. We apply the model to a simple synthetic glacier geometry, drive it with prescribed meltwater input variations, and compute sliding and erosion rates over a seasonal cycle. When both distributed and channelized systems are included, abrasion and sliding maxima migrate ~20% up-glacier compared to simulations with distributed drainage only. Power-law sliding generally yields to a broader response of abrasion to water pressure changes along the flowline compared to Coulomb-friction sliding. Multi-day variations in meltwater input elicit a stronger abrasion response than either diurnal- or seasonal variations alone for the same total input volume. An increase in water input volume leads to increased abrasion. We find that ice thickness commensurate with ice sheet outlet glaciers can hinder the up-glacier migration of abrasion. Quarrying patterns computed with a recently published law differ markedly from calculated abrasion patterns, with effective pressure being a stronger determinant than sliding speeds of quarrying rates. These variations in calculated patterns of instantaneous erosion as a function of hydrology-, sliding-, and erosion-model formulation, as well as model forcing, may lead to significant differences in predicted topographic profiles on long time scales.
•Hydrologically-coupled ice-flow model was used to calculate seasonal erosion patterns.•Process-specific erosion laws were implemented for abrasion and quarrying.•Channelized drainage leads to up-glacier migration of abrasion rates.•Multi-day variations in meltwater input are more important than diurnal or seasonal.•Quarrying patterns with Iverson's (2012) law differ from abrasion patterns.
Accurately estimating winter surface mass balance on glaciers is central to assessing glacier health and predicting glacier run-off. However, measuring and modelling snow distribution is inherently ...difficult in mountainous terrain. Here, we explore rigorous statistical methods of estimating winter balance and its uncertainty from multiscale measurements of snow depth and density. In May 2016, we collected over 9000 manual measurements of snow depth across three glaciers in the St. Elias Mountains, Yukon, Canada. Linear regression, combined with cross-validation and Bayesian model averaging, as well as ordinary kriging are used to interpolate point-scale values to glacier-wide estimates of winter balance. Elevation and a wind-redistribution parameter exhibit the highest correlations with winter balance, but the relationship varies considerably between glaciers. A Monte Carlo analysis reveals that the interpolation itself introduces more uncertainty than the assignment of snow density or the representation of grid-scale variability. For our study glaciers, the winter balance uncertainty from all assessed sources ranges from 0.03 to 0.15 m w.e. (5–39%). Despite the challenges associated with estimating winter balance, our results are consistent with a regional-scale winter-balance gradient.
Stationary ice-penetrating radar (sIPR) systems can be used to monitor temporal changes in electromagnetically sensitive properties of glaciers and ice sheets. We describe a system intended for ...autonomous operation in remote glacial environments, and document its performance during deployments in cold and temperate settings. The design is patterned after an existing impulse radar system, with the addition of a fibre-optic link and timing module to control transmitter pulses, a micro-UPS (uninterruptable power supply) to prevent uncontrolled system shutdown and a customized satellite telemetry scheme. Various implementations of the sIPR were deployed on the Kaskawulsh Glacier near an ice-marginal lake in Yukon, Canada, for 44–77 days in summers 2014, 2015 and 2017. Pronounced perturbations to englacial radiostratigraphy were observed commensurate with lake filling and drainage, and are interpreted as changes in englacial water storage. Another sIPR was deployed in 2015–2016 on ice island PII-A-1-f, which originated from the Petermann Glacier in northwest Greenland. This system operated autonomously for almost a year during which changes in thickness of the ice column were clearly detected.
Abstract
Glacial erosion produces vast quantities of fine-grained sediment that has a far-reaching impact on Earth surface processes. To gain a better understanding of the production of glacial silt ...and clay, we use automated mineralogy to quantify the microstructure and mineralogy of rock and sediment samples from 20 basins in the St. Elias Mountains, Yukon, Canada. Sediments were collected from proglacial streams, while rock samples were collected from ice marginal outcrops and fragmented using electrical pulse disaggregation. For both rock fragments and sediments, we observe a log-normal distribution of grain sizes and a sub-micrometer terminal grain size. We find that the abrasion of silt and clay results in both rounding and the exploitation of through-going fractures. The abundance of inter- versus intragranular fractures depends on mineralogy and size. Unlike the relatively larger grains, where crushing and abrasion are thought to exploit and produce discrete populations of grain sizes, the comminution of fines leads to a grain size, composition and rounding that is continuously distributed across size, and highly dependent on source-rock properties.
Spatially continuous satellite infrared temperature measurements are essential for understanding the consequences and drivers of change, at local and regional scales, especially in northern and ...alpine environments dominated by a complex cryosphere where in situ observations are scarce. We describe two methods for producing daily temperature fields using MODIS "clear-sky" day-time Land Surface Temperatures (LST). The Interpolated Curve Mean Daily Surface Temperature (ICM) method, interpolates single daytime Terra LST values to daily means using the coincident diurnal air temperature curves. The second method calculates daily mean LST from daily maximum and minimum LST (MMM) values from MODIS Aqua and Terra. These ICM and MMM models were compared to daily mean air temperatures recorded between April and October at seven locations in southwest Yukon, Canada, covering characteristic alpine land cover types (tundra, barren, glacier) at elevations between 1,408 m and 2,319 m. Both methods for producing mean daily surface temperatures have advantages and disadvantages. ICM signals are strongly correlated with air temperature (R2 = 0.72 to 0.86), but have relatively large variability (RMSE = 4.09 to 4.90 K), while MMM values had a stronger correlation to air temperature (R2 = 0.90) and smaller variability (RMSE = 2.67 K). Finally, when comparing 8-day LST averages, aggregated from the MMM method, to air temperature, we found a high correlation (R2 = 0.84) with less variability (RMSE = 1.54 K). Where the trend was less steep and the y-intercept increased by 1.6 degree C compared to the daily correlations. This effect is likely a consequence of LST temperature averages being differentially affected by cloud cover over warm and cold surfaces. We conclude that satellite infrared skin temperature (e.g., MODIS LST), which is often aggregated into multi-day composites to mitigate data reductions caused by cloud cover, changes in its relationship to air temperature depending on the period of aggregation.
We present a two‐dimensional Glacier Drainage System model (GlaDS) that couples distributed and channelized subglacial water flow. Distributed flow occurs through linked cavities that are represented ...as a continuous water sheet of variable thickness. Channelized flow occurs through Röthlisberger channels that can form on any of the edges of a prescribed, unstructured network of potential channels. Water storage is accounted for in an englacial aquifer and in moulins, which also act as point sources of water to the subglacial system. Solutions are presented for a synthetic topography designed to mimic an ice sheet margin. For low discharge, all the flow is accommodated in the sheet, whereas for sufficiently high discharge, the model exhibits a channelization instability which leads to the formation of a self‐organized channel system. The random orientation of the network edges allows the channel system geometry to be relatively unbiased, in contrast to previous structured grid‐based models. Under steady conditions, the model supports the classical view of the subglacial drainage system, with low pressure regions forming around the channels. Under diurnally varying input, water flows in and out of the channels, and a rather complex spatiotemporal pattern of water pressures is predicted. We explore the effects of parameter variations on the channel system topology and mean effective pressure. The model is then applied to a mountain glacier and forced with meltwater calculated by a temperature index model. The results are broadly consistent with our current understanding of the glacier drainage system and demonstrate the applicability of the model to real settings.
Key Points
Presenting a new 2D model of distributed and channelized subglacial drainage
The channel system is generated as part of the model solution
The applicability of the model to real settings is demonstrated
The hypothesized link between glacier surging and bedrock geology motivates this study of the suspended sediment size distributions (SSSD) from surge-type and non-surge-type glaciers. We analyze ...SSSDs from proglacial streams in 20 individual basins comprising various fractions of metasedimentary (MS) and felsic plutonic rocks. We compare the size distributions by performing tests of significance on the distribution statistics, and a principal component analysis on discrete grain sizes. We find that surge-type and non-surge-type glaciers underlain solely by MS rocks have significantly different SSSDs, while surge-type glaciers as a whole have remarkably similar SSSDs, regardless of the underlying bedrock geology. These observations hint at a relationship between sediment characteristics and glacier surging, though causation in either direction cannot be established without additional data.
Modeling melt from glaciers is crucial to assessing regional hydrology and eustatic sea level rise. The transferability of such models in space and time has been widely assumed but rarely tested. To ...investigate melt model transferability, a distributed energy-balance melt model (DEBM) is applied to two small glaciers of opposing aspects that are 10 km apart in the Donjek Range of the St. Elias Mountains, Yukon Territory, Canada. An analysis is conducted in four stages to assess the transferability of the DEBM in space and time: 1) locally derived model parameter values and meteorological forcing variables are used to assess model skill; 2) model parameter values are transferred between glacier sites and between years of study; 3) measured meteorological forcing variables are transferred between glaciers using locally derived parameter values; 4) both model parameter values and measured meteorological forcing variables are transferred from one glacier site to the other, treating the second glacier site as an extension of the first. The model parameters are transferable in time to within a <10% uncertainty in the calculated surface ablation over most or all of a melt season. Transferring model parameters or meteorological forcing variables in space creates large errors in modeled ablation. If select quantities (ice albedo, initial snow depth, and summer snowfall) are retained at their locally measured values, model transferability can be improved to achieve ≤15% uncertainty in the calculated surface ablation.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
BFBNIB, DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
PDF
