Debris properties and mass-balance impacts on adjacent debris-covered glaciers, Mount Rainier, USA
The north and east slopes of Mount Rainier, Washington, are host to three of the largest glaciers in the contiguous United States: Carbon Glacier, Winthrop Glacier, and Emmons Glacier. Each has an extensive blanket of supraglacial debris on its terminus, but recent work indicates that each has respo...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2019-01-01
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| Series: | Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2019.1582269 |
| _version_ | 1818980419835527168 |
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| author | Peter L. Moore Leah I. Nelson Theresa M. D. Groth |
| author_facet | Peter L. Moore Leah I. Nelson Theresa M. D. Groth |
| author_sort | Peter L. Moore |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The north and east slopes of Mount Rainier, Washington, are host to three of the largest glaciers in the contiguous United States: Carbon Glacier, Winthrop Glacier, and Emmons Glacier. Each has an extensive blanket of supraglacial debris on its terminus, but recent work indicates that each has responded to late twentieth- and early twenty-first-century climate changes in a different way. While Carbon Glacier has thinned and retreated since 1970, Winthrop Glacier has remained steady and Emmons Glacier has thickened and advanced. There are several possible climatic and dynamic factors that can account for some of these disparities, but differences in supraglacial debris properties and distribution have not been systematically evaluated. We combine field measurements and satellite remote sensing analysis from a 10-day period in the 2014 melt season to estimate both the debris thickness distribution and key debris thermal properties on Emmons Glacier. A simplified energy-balance model was then used with debris surface temperatures derived from Landsat 8 thermal infrared bands to estimate the distribution of debris across all three debris-covered termini. The results suggest that differences in summer balance among these glaciers can be partly explained by differences in the thermal resistance of their debris mantles. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T17:15:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-006ada301b904c06b20bf51965471770 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1523-0430 1938-4246 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T17:15:08Z |
| publishDate | 2019-01-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-006ada301b904c06b20bf519654717702022-12-21T19:32:02ZengTaylor & Francis GroupArctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research1523-04301938-42462019-01-01511708310.1080/15230430.2019.15822691582269Debris properties and mass-balance impacts on adjacent debris-covered glaciers, Mount Rainier, USAPeter L. Moore0Leah I. Nelson1Theresa M. D. Groth2Iowa State UniversityCarleton CollegeIowa State UniversityThe north and east slopes of Mount Rainier, Washington, are host to three of the largest glaciers in the contiguous United States: Carbon Glacier, Winthrop Glacier, and Emmons Glacier. Each has an extensive blanket of supraglacial debris on its terminus, but recent work indicates that each has responded to late twentieth- and early twenty-first-century climate changes in a different way. While Carbon Glacier has thinned and retreated since 1970, Winthrop Glacier has remained steady and Emmons Glacier has thickened and advanced. There are several possible climatic and dynamic factors that can account for some of these disparities, but differences in supraglacial debris properties and distribution have not been systematically evaluated. We combine field measurements and satellite remote sensing analysis from a 10-day period in the 2014 melt season to estimate both the debris thickness distribution and key debris thermal properties on Emmons Glacier. A simplified energy-balance model was then used with debris surface temperatures derived from Landsat 8 thermal infrared bands to estimate the distribution of debris across all three debris-covered termini. The results suggest that differences in summer balance among these glaciers can be partly explained by differences in the thermal resistance of their debris mantles.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2019.1582269debris-covered glacierglaciermass balancemount rainierremote sensing |
| spellingShingle | Peter L. Moore Leah I. Nelson Theresa M. D. Groth Debris properties and mass-balance impacts on adjacent debris-covered glaciers, Mount Rainier, USA Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research debris-covered glacier glacier mass balance mount rainier remote sensing |
| title | Debris properties and mass-balance impacts on adjacent debris-covered glaciers, Mount Rainier, USA |
| title_full | Debris properties and mass-balance impacts on adjacent debris-covered glaciers, Mount Rainier, USA |
| title_fullStr | Debris properties and mass-balance impacts on adjacent debris-covered glaciers, Mount Rainier, USA |
| title_full_unstemmed | Debris properties and mass-balance impacts on adjacent debris-covered glaciers, Mount Rainier, USA |
| title_short | Debris properties and mass-balance impacts on adjacent debris-covered glaciers, Mount Rainier, USA |
| title_sort | debris properties and mass balance impacts on adjacent debris covered glaciers mount rainier usa |
| topic | debris-covered glacier glacier mass balance mount rainier remote sensing |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2019.1582269 |
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