Annual and seasonal glaciological mass balance of Patsio Glacier, western Himalaya (India) from 2010 to 2017
| Autor: | Alagappan Ramanathan, Virendra Bahadur Singh, Arindan Mandal, Sarvagya Vatsal, Mohd Soheb, Somdutta Mishra, Thupstan Angchuk, I. M. Bahuguna |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
geography
geography.geographical_feature_category 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences 0208 environmental biotechnology Glacier 02 engineering and technology 01 natural sciences Debris 020801 environmental engineering Glacier mass balance Balance (accounting) Significant positive correlation Physical geography Precipitation Geology 0105 earth and related environmental sciences Earth-Surface Processes |
| Zdroj: | Journal of Glaciology. 67:1137-1146 |
| ISSN: | 1727-5652 0022-1430 |
| Popis: | Improving the knowledge on Himalayan glaciers mass balance is a key to understand the present and past annual atmospheric variations and future water availability in the region. Here, we present glaciological mass balance for Patsio Glacier, located in Himachal Pradesh (India), western Himalaya. Annual glacier-wide mass balance was measured for 7 consecutive years (2010/11 to 2016/17) and winter mass balance for 6 years (2011/12 to 2016/17). The cumulative mass balance over this period was −2.35 ± 0.37 m w.e. The corresponding mean mass balance was −0.34 m w.e. a−1. The mean annual ablation gradient excluding the debris-covered area was 0.47 m w.e. (100 m)−1. The annual ablation over the debris-covered area is reduced by an average of −1.0 m w.e. compared to the clean ice surface. Winter mass balance was consistently positive with a maximum of 1.34 m w.e. in 2014/15 and a minimum of 0.88 m w.e. in 2011/12. Multiple regression analysis between annual mass balance versus annual and winter precipitation of the Lahaul-Spiti region shows a significant positive correlation. Our results highlight the importance of monitoring seasonal mass balance and consideration of non-climatic parameters (debris and aspect) while estimating the glacier-wide mass balance. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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