Climate–Glacier Dynamics and Topographic Forcing in the Karakoram Himalaya: Concepts, Issues and Research Directions

Dobreva, I. D.; Bishop, Michael P.; Bush, Andrew B. G.

doi:10.3390/w9060405

Cited by 39 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 164 publications

(236 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The Mustagh Karakoram combines the greatest extent of extreme elevations and great relief, the greatest glacier cover and most of the largest valley glaciers outside higher latitudes 5 , 15 . Glacier basins have exceptional steepness and vertical range of rock walls, wind redistribution of snow and avalanche-nourished ice 5 , 60 . Unlike the rest of the Himalaya, or Hindu Kush and westwards, the Mustagh Karakoram has large and nearly equal inputs of snow in winter and summer, likely to complicate ice thermal regimes 5 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Surge-type and surge-modified glaciers in the Karakoram

Bhambri

Hewitt

Kawishwar

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

158

165

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Glaciers in the Karakoram exhibit irregular behavior. Terminus fluctuations of individual glaciers lack consistency and, unlike other parts of the Himalaya, total ice mass remained stable or slightly increased since the 1970s. These seeming anomalies are addressed through a comprehensive mapping of surge-type glaciers and surge-related impacts, based on satellite images (Landsat and ASTER), ground observations, and archival material since the 1840s. Some 221 surge-type and surge-like glaciers are identified in six main classes. Their basins cover 7,734 ± 271 km2 or ~43% of the total Karakoram glacierised area. Active phases range from some months to over 15 years. Surge intervals are identified for 27 glaciers with two or more surges, including 9 not previously reported. Mini-surges and kinematic waves are documented and surface diagnostic features indicative of surging. Surge cycle timing, intervals and mass transfers are unique to each glacier and largely out-of-phase with climate. A broad class of surge-modified ice introduces indirect and post-surge effects that further complicate tracking of climate responses. Mass balance in surge-type and surge-modified glaciers differs from conventional, climate-sensitive profiles. New approaches are required to account for such differing responses of individual glaciers, and effectively project the fate of Karakoram ice during a warming climate.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Surge-type and surge-modified glaciers in the Karakoram

Bhambri

Hewitt

Kawishwar

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

158

165

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Firstly, raw drainage basins are calculated by watershed analysis using a flow direction grid derived from a sink-filled DEM. Afterwards, overlying raw basins are merged to one basin polygon per glacier considering pour points and a buffer (Falaschi et al, 2017;Kienholz et al, 2013;. This approach proved to be robust even for the large regions of the Karakoram and Pamir as in general glaciers are divided by very steep mountain crests.…”

Section: Glacier Definition and Separation Using Drainage Dividesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A consistent glacier inventory for Karakoram and Pamir derived from Landsat data: distribution of debris cover and mapping challenges

Mölg

Bolch

Rastner

et al. 2018

Earth Syst. Sci. Data

111

102

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Knowledge about the coverage and characteristics of glaciers in High Mountain Asia (HMA) is still incomplete and heterogeneous. However, several applications, such as modelling of past or future glacier development, run-off, or glacier volume, rely on the existence and accessibility of complete datasets. In particular, precise outlines of glacier extent are required to spatially constrain glacier-specific calculations such as length, area, and volume changes or flow velocities. As a contribution to the Randolph Glacier Inventory (RGI) and the Global Land Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS) glacier database, we have produced a homogeneous inventory of the Pamir and the Karakoram mountain ranges using 28 Landsat TM and ETM+ scenes acquired around the year 2000. We applied a standardized method of automated digital glacier mapping and manual correction using coherence images from the Advanced Land Observing Satellite 1 (ALOS-1) Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar 1 (PALSAR-1) as an additional source of information; we then (i) separated the glacier complexes into individual glaciers using drainage divides derived by watershed analysis from the ASTER global digital elevation model version 2 (GDEM2) and (ii) separately delineated all debris-covered areas. Assessment of uncertainties was performed for debris-covered and clean-ice glacier parts using the buffer method and independent multiple digitizing of three glaciers representing key challenges such as shadows and debris cover. Indeed, along with seasonal snow at high elevations, shadow and debris cover represent the largest uncertainties in our final dataset. In total, we mapped more than 27 800 glaciers >0.02 km2 covering an area of 35 520±1948 km2 and an elevation range from 2260 to 8600 m. Regional median glacier elevations vary from 4150 m (Pamir Alai) to almost 5400 m (Karakoram), which is largely due to differences in temperature and precipitation. Supraglacial debris covers an area of 3587±662 km2, i.e. 10 % of the total glacierized area. Larger glaciers have a higher share in debris-covered area (up to >20 %), making it an important factor to be considered in subsequent applications (https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.894707).

show abstract

“…Research on the HKH 2 of 21 using remote sensing data shows that the Sikkim region reflected maximum glacier retreat, followed by Karakoram and the Himachal Himalayas [5]. Such spatiotemporal variety in glacier recession is probably due to topographic, geologic and climatic interferences [6,[9][10][11]. Therefore, it is imperative to assess the topographic and climatic parameters to analyze the distribution and variability of glaciers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Glacier Dynamics in Changme Khangpu Basin, Sikkim Himalaya, India, between 1975 and 2016

2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study provides a high resolution glacier database in the Changme Khangpu Basin (CKB) using LANDSAT 8 (2014) and Sentinel-2A image (2016), mapping of 81 glaciers that cover a 75.78 ± 1.54 km2 area. Composite maps of land surface temperature, slope and Normalized differential Snow Index have been successfully utilized in delineating near accurate debris cover boundary of glaciers. The cumulative controlling parameters of aspect, elevation, slope, and debris cover have been assessed to evaluate the nature of glacier distribution and dynamics. The local topographic settings seem to have significantly determined the glacier distribution in the CKB. Almost 20% area erstwhile under glacier cover has been lost since 1975 at an average rate of −0.453 ± 0.001 km2a−1. The recent decade (2001–2016) has witnessed a higher rate of area shrinkage (−0.665 ± 0.243 km2a−1), compared to a relatively lower rate of recession (−0.170 ± 0.536 km2a−1) between 1988 and 2001. The lower rates of glacial recession can most likely be induced regionally due to relatively cooler decadal late summer temperatures and peak in the monsoon spell. Glaciers with western and north-western aspects showed more vulnerability to area loss than the rest of the aspects. Lower altitude glaciers have receded faster than ones perched up on higher elevations. The rate of glacier area recession has been nearly twice that on clean glaciers as compared to debris-covered glaciers in the CKB.

show abstract

Climate–Glacier Dynamics and Topographic Forcing in the Karakoram Himalaya: Concepts, Issues and Research Directions

Cited by 39 publications

References 164 publications

Surge-type and surge-modified glaciers in the Karakoram

Surge-type and surge-modified glaciers in the Karakoram

A consistent glacier inventory for Karakoram and Pamir derived from Landsat data: distribution of debris cover and mapping challenges

Glacier Dynamics in Changme Khangpu Basin, Sikkim Himalaya, India, between 1975 and 2016

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About