Spatio-Temporal Changes of Mass Balance in the Ablation Area of the Muz Taw Glacier, Sawir Mountains, from Multi-Temporal Terrestrial Geodetic Surveys
Autor: | Jianxin Mu, Feiteng Wang, Chunhai Xu, Zhongqin Li |
---|---|
Jazyk: | angličtina |
Rok vydání: | 2021 |
Předmět: |
geography
mountain glacier Glacier terminus geography.geographical_feature_category glacier dynamics 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences Science Elevation Geodetic datum Glacier 010502 geochemistry & geophysics 01 natural sciences Glacier mass balance Sawir Mountains glacier mass balance terrestrial laser scanning Tributary General Earth and Planetary Sciences Spatial variability Physical geography Precipitation Geology 0105 earth and related environmental sciences |
Zdroj: | Remote Sensing; Volume 13; Issue 8; Pages: 1465 Remote Sensing, Vol 13, Iss 1465, p 1465 (2021) |
ISSN: | 2072-4292 |
DOI: | 10.3390/rs13081465 |
Popis: | The glaciers in the Sawir Mountains are an important freshwater resource, and glaciers have been experiencing a continuing retreat over the past few decades. However, studies on detailed glacier mass changes are currently sparse. Here, we present the high-precision evolution of annual surface elevation and geodetic mass changes in the ablation area of the Muz Taw Glacier (Sawir Mountains, China) over the latest three consecutive mass-balance years (2017–2020) based on multi-temporal terrestrial geodetic surveys. Our results revealed clearly surface lowering and negative geodetic mass changes, and the spatial changing patterns were generally similar for the three periods with the most negative surface lowering (approximately −5.0 to −4.0 m a−1) around the glacier terminus. The gradient of altitudinal elevation changes was commonly steep at the low elevations and gentle in the upper-elevation parts, and reduced surface lowering was observed at the glacier terminus. Resulting emergence velocities ranged from 0.11 to 0.86 m a−1 with pronounced spatial variability, which was mainly controlled by surface slope, ice thickness, and the movement of tributary glaciers. Meanwhile, emergence velocities slightly compensated the surface ablation at the ablation area with a proportion of 14.9%, and dynamic thickening had small contributions to glacier surface evolution. Limited annual precipitation and glacier accumulation may result in these weak contributions. Higher-resolution surveys at the seasonal and monthly scales are required to get insight into the mass balance processes and their mechanism. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
Externí odkaz: |