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Ice and Snow Thickness of the IGAN Glacier in the Polar Urals from Ground-Based Radio-Echo Sounding in 2019 and 2021

  • GLACIERS AND ICE SHEETS
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Abstract

Small glaciers of the Polar Urals are at the limits of their existence. Their state and changes serve as an important natural indicator of modern climatic changes. In 2019 and 2021, we performed ground-based radar studies of one of these glaciers, the IGAN Glacier, to measure ice thickness and snow cover. We used Picor-Led (1600 MHz), and VIRL-7 (20 MHz) GPRs. According to these data, the glacier has an average thickness of 49 m, maximum 113 m. The glacier has a polythermal structure: a cold ice layer with an average thickness of 12 m (maximum 43 m), overlaps the temperate ice with an average thickness of 37 m (maximum 114 m in the upper part of the glacier). The volume of ice contained in the glacier (in its studied part) is 14.3 × 106 m3, of which 10.89 × 106 m3 is temperate ice and 3.44 × 106 m3 is cold ice. For comparison: according to the radar data of 1968, the total ice thickness then reached 150 m in the central part, and the thickness of the upper layer of cold ice was 40–50 m. Radar snow measurement survey allowed us to plot the distribution of seasonal snow thickness over the glacier surface in 2019 and 2021, where a general spatial pattern of snow thickness increase from 2 m on the glacier terminus to 8 m and more towards the back wall of the cirque which is due to the significant influence of avalanche nourishment and wind transport. Over the last decade, the glacier has lost about 3.2 × 106 m3 of ice, and if the rate of loss continues, it may disappear in 40–50 years. However, this process may have a non-linear character, as it involves not only climatic factors, but also local terrain features, on the one hand contributing to a high accumulation of snow, on the other hand – to the formation of a glacial lake during glacier retreat, which may intensify ablation.

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Funding

The field work was carried out with the financial support of the NP “Arctic Development Center” together with the State Institution of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District ”Scientific Center for Arctic Studies” (Salekhard) within the framework of the research project “Monitoring of the cryolithozone and the creation of a geotechnical monitoring system in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District in 2021” and within the State Assignment Scientific Theme (no. АААА-А19-119022190172-5 (FMGE-2019-0004)) of the Institute of Geography RAS.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119017, Moscow, Russia

    I. I. Lavrentiev, G. A. Nosenko & A. F. Glazovsky

  2. “Scientific Center for the Study of the Arctic”, 629007, Salekhard, Russia

    A. N. Shein & Ya. K. Leopold

  3. Moscow State University, 119991, Moscow, Russia

    M. N. Ivanov

Authors
  1. I. I. Lavrentiev
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  2. G. A. Nosenko
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  3. A. F. Glazovsky
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  4. A. N. Shein
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  5. M. N. Ivanov
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  6. Ya. K. Leopold
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Correspondence to I. I. Lavrentiev.

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Lavrentiev, I.I., Nosenko, G.A., Glazovsky, A.F. et al. Ice and Snow Thickness of the IGAN Glacier in the Polar Urals from Ground-Based Radio-Echo Sounding in 2019 and 2021. Water Resour 50 (Suppl 1), S1–S9 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0097807823700318

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