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March 6, 2018
Rio Engaño, Chile Headwater Glacier Retreat GLOF Threat Drops
Comparison of glaciers at the headwaters of Rio Engaño in 1984 and 2018 Landsat images. The 1984 terminus location with red arrows, yellow arrows the 2018 terminus location, purple arrows wind drift patterns. Rio Engaño drains into Lago General Carrera and its headwaters is a group of alpine glaciers. In March of 1977 one of the glaciers, generated a glacier lake outburst flood (GLOF) that reached a depth of 1.5 m at the …
February 15, 2018
Gora Gvandra Glaciers, Caucasus Mountains, No Accumulation Zone in 2017
Comparison of glaciers around Gora Gvandra, Caucasus Mountians in 1985 and 2017 Landsat images. G=Gvandra Glacier, D=Dalar galcier, DN =North Dalari Glacier, S=Sakeni Glacier and M=Morde Glacier. Gora Gvandra Mountain is southwest of Mount Elbrus of the Caucasus Mountains of Georgia and is surrounded by a group of glaciers that in recent years have not exhibited an accumulation zone. Stokes et al (2006) note that 94% of Caucasus Mountain glaciers retreated …
December 14, 2017
From a Glaciologists Perspective AGU Day 3
Snapshot of day 3 of Glaciology poster presentations at AGU. The amount of glaciology research is impressive, there is much we do not know. We can no longer say that we know very little about any aspect or region. Before saying that explore the vast literature that is now available. Jeff La Freniere at Gustavus Adolphus College used several new technologies, aerial and terrestrial LIDAR and structure-from-motion photogrammetry from drones …
August 14, 2017
Canadian Columbia River Basin Winter 2016-2017: A Late Rally
Guest Post by Ben Pelto, PhD Candidate, UNBC Geography, [email protected] As the summer ticks by and the fall glacier field season approaches, I’ve realized that I never put out a winter 2016-2017 synopsis, so, like the snowfall this year, it’s arrived late. May 2017, Jesse Milner of the ACMG on the Nordic Glacier in front of the “meteor strike” a newly exposed rock face that spalls ice regularly. Photo by …
June 27, 2017
Mensu Glacier, Siberia Russia Retreat 1994-2016
Mensu Glacier, Russia in comparison of 1994 and 2016 Landsat images. Red arrow is the 1994 terminus, yellow arrow 2016 terminus, purple arrow a tributary and purple dots the snowline. Mensu Glacier (Lednik Mensu) drains northeast from Gora Belukha in the Russian Altai. The glacier drains into the Ob River and then the Arctic Ocean. This glacier has not been the focus of detailed research to date. Khromova et al (2014) report …
June 5, 2017
Llewellyn Glacier, BC Proglacial Lake Merging From Retreat
Llewellyn Glacier comparison in 1984 Landsat and 2016 Sentinel images. Red arrows the 1984 terminus locations for proglacial lakes A-D, yellow arrows the 2016 terminus locations for A and B. Point E was the peninsula separating proglacial lakes A and B, which are now joined due to glacier retreat. The second largest glacier of the Juneau Icefield is the Llewellyn Glacier which is in British Columbia. The Juneau Icefield Research …
February 27, 2017
A River Runs 40 km Across the Greenland Ice Sheet
Supraglacial stream, on July 26, 2016 Landsat image, stretching 40 km across the ice sheet from the transient snowline, which marks the boundary between the percolation zone and the wet snow zone, west toward the ice sheet margin, note black arrows. The Greenland Ice Sheet has experienced a significant increase in surface melt. This is due both to warmer temperatures and enhanced melt due to a reduction in reflectivity-albedo. The expansion …
February 17, 2017
State of Alpine Glaciers in 2016-Negative for 37th Consecutive Year
Figure 1. Global Alpine glacier annual mass balance record of reference glaciers submitted to the World Glacier Monitoring Service. Each year I write the section of the BAMS State of the Climate on Alpine Glaciers. What follows is the initial draft of that with a couple of added images and an added paragraph. The World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS) record of mass balance and terminus behavior (WGMS, 2015) provides a …
January 12, 2017
Recent Climate Change Impacts on Mountain Glaciers – Volume
Landsat Image of glaciers examined in the Himalaya Range: Chapter 10 that straddles a portion of Sikkim, Nepal and Tibet, China. Notice the number that end in expanding proglacial lakes. This January a book I authored has been published by Wiley. The goal of this volume is to tell the story, glacier by glacier, of response to climate change from 1984-2015. Of the 165 glaciers examined in 10 different alpine …
January 4, 2017
Gangotri Glacier Expanded Melt Season & Melt Area in 2016
Purple dots indicate the transient snowline on Gangotri Glacier in the fall and early winter of 2016. Red arrow indicates the terminus of the glacier. The Gangotri Glacier is the largest glacier in the Bhagirathi River watershed, situated in the Uttarkashi District, India. It is one of the larger glaciers in the Himalaya, and like all of the nearby Himalayan glaciers is retreating significantly. Gangotri Glacier provides hydropower as its …
Dean of Academic Affairs at Nichols College and Professor of Environmental Science at Nichols College in Massachusetts since 1989. Glaciologist directing the North Cascade Glacier Climate Project since 1984. This project monitors the mass balance and behavior of more glaciers than any other in North America.