Glacier characteristics and retreat between 1991 and 2014 in the Ladakh Range, Jammu and Kashmir

Abstract

The Ladakh Range is a liminal zone of meteorological conditions and glacier changes. It lies between the monsoon-forced glacier retreat of the Himalaya and Zanskar ranges to the south and the anomalous stability observed in the Karakoram to the north, driven by mid-latitude westerlies. Given the climatic context of the Ladakh Range, the glaciers in the range might be expected to display intermediate behaviour between these two zones. However, no glacier change data have been compiled for the Ladakh Range itself. Here, we examine 864 glaciers in the central section of the Ladakh range, covering a number of smaller glaciers not included in alternative glacier inventories. Glaciers in the range are small (median 0.25 km 2 ; maximum 6.58 km 2 ) and largely distributed between 5000-6000 m above sea level (a.s.l.). 657 glaciers are available for multitemporal analysis between 1991 to 2014 using data from Landsat multispectral sensors. We find glaciers to have retreated -12.8% between 1991-2014. Glacier changes are consistent with observations in the Western Himalaya (to the south) and in sharp contrast with the Karakoram (to the north) in spite of its proximity to the latter. We suggest this sharp transition must be explained at least in part by non-climatic mechanisms (such as debris covering or hypsometry), or that the climatic factors responsible for the Karakoram behaviour are extremely localised.

Response to the comments on "Temporal inventory of glaciers in the Suru sub-basin, western Himalaya: Impacts of the regional climate variability" by Shukla et al., 2019

“…Response 1:We agree that the Ladakh range was not a well known nomenclature in the field of glaciology , however, is well recognized in studies pertinent to Himalayan geology (Raz and Honeggar, 1989;Weinberg and Dunlap, 2000;Kirstein et al, 2006;St-Onge et al, 2010;Borneman et al, 2015). Nevertheless, such studies have now become prevalent in glaciology as well, with increase in the number of studies in this region (Schmidt and Nusser, 2012;Chudley et al, 2017). Chudley et al, (2017) have considered the central and eastern Ladakh range as their research area and have shown that the response of glaciers in these regions is consistent with that in the western Himalaya (to the south), however in contrast to the Karakoram (to the north) Himalaya ( Figure R1).…”

“…Comment 1:Unlike the Karakoram, the Ladakh Range is not a well known nomenclature. Chudley et al, (2017) have used the Karakoram and Ladakh range, not differentiated about Karakoram and GHR. Mir et al (2018) have represented it as a part of the GHR.…”

“…Nevertheless, such studies have now become prevalent in glaciology as well, with increase in the number of studies in this region (Schmidt and Nusser, 2012;Chudley et al, 2017). Chudley et al, (2017) have considered the central and eastern Ladakh range as their research area and have shown that the response of glaciers in these regions is consistent with that in the western Himalaya (to the south), however in contrast to the Karakoram (to the north) Himalaya ( Figure R1). In this scenario, our study area covers part of southern Ladakh range (33 • 54 to 34 • 21 N and 76 • 00 to 76 • 36 E) and part of Greater Himalayan range (33 • 43 to 34 • 19 N and 76 • 37 to 76 • 18 E), lying at the northernmost end of Zanskar range.…”

Glacier dynamics influenced carbon flows through lake food webs: evidence from a chironomid δ13C-based reconstruction in the Nepalese Himalayas

“…Since current glacier dynamics and associated in-lake solute concentrations are strongly regulated by climate variability (Salerno et al, 2008;Salerno et al, 2016;Chudley et al, 2017), past warming periods should also correspond to periods of glacial retreats. Clustering analysis of the sedimentary pigment stratigraphy of Lake Pyramid Inferior revealed a strong concordance between primary producer's dynamics and main known climatic phases in the Eastern part of the Himalayan Mountains (Lami et al, 2010).…”

“…Glacier dynamics in the Himalayan Mountains induces numerous feedbacks on regional climate, water supply and associated biogeochemical cycles (Yao et al, 2012b). However, numerous studies revealed dramatic decreases in glacial area over the last decades due to climate warming (Salerno et al, 2008;Chudley et al, 2017). Since glacier retreat in the Himalayan Mountains is expected to dramatically increase in a near future due to global warming (Soncini et al, 2016); it has then become necessary to assess climate change impacts on ecosystems in this area.…”