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Heterogeneity in supraglacial debris thickness and its role in glacier mass changes of the Mount Gongga

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Abstract

In the Tibetan Plateau, many glaciers have extensive covers of supraglacial debris in their ablation zones, which affects glacier response to climate change by altering ice melting and spatial patterns of mass loss. Insufficient debris thickness data make it difficult to analyze regional debris-cover effects. Maritime glaciers of the Mount Gongga have been characterized by a substantial reduction in glacier area and ice mass in recent decades. The thermal property of the debris layer estimated from remotely sensed data reveals that debris-covered glaciers are dominant in this region, on which the proportion of debris cover to total glacier area varies from 1.74% to 53.0%. Using a physically-based debris-cover effect assessment model, we found that although the presence of supraglacial debris has a significant insulating effect on heavily debris-covered glaciers, it accelerates ice melting on ~10.2% of total ablation zone and produces rapid wastage of ~25% of the debris-covered glaciers, leading to the similar mass losses between the debris-covered and debris-free glaciers. Widespread debris cover also facilitates the development of active terminus regions. Regional differences in debris-cover effects are apparent, highlighting the importance of debris cover for understanding glacier mass changes in the Tibetan Plateau and other mountain ranges around the world.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Yong Zhang & ShiYin Liu

  2. Institute of Engineering Innovation, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-8656, Japan

    Yong Zhang & Yukiko Hirabayashi

  3. Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Nagoya, 464-8601, Japan

    Koji Fujita

  4. Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China

    Qiao Liu

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  1. Yong Zhang
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  2. Yukiko Hirabayashi
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  3. Koji Fujita
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  4. ShiYin Liu
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  5. Qiao Liu
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Correspondence to Yong Zhang.

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Zhang, Y., Hirabayashi, Y., Fujita, K. et al. Heterogeneity in supraglacial debris thickness and its role in glacier mass changes of the Mount Gongga. Sci. China Earth Sci. 59, 170–184 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-015-5118-2

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