Rapid glacial retreat on the Kamchatka Peninsula during the early 21st century

Lynch, Colleen; Barr, Iestyn D.; Mullan, Donal; Ruffell, Alastair

doi:10.5194/tc-10-1809-2016

Cited by 12 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 61 publications

(78 reference statements)

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“…The Kamchatka Peninsula, Eastern Russia, is currently occupied by more than 600 glaciers and about 30 active volcanoes [1,2] (Figure 1A). Over the 20th and early part of the 21st centuries, most of these glaciers experienced retreat characterised by a reduction in area and overall mass [3][4][5][6]. For example, an~11% reduction in glacier area has been reported for the peninsula as a whole between the 1950s and 2000, and a further~24% reduction between 2000 and 2014 [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Over the 20th and early part of the 21st centuries, most of these glaciers experienced retreat characterised by a reduction in area and overall mass [3][4][5][6]. For example, an~11% reduction in glacier area has been reported for the peninsula as a whole between the 1950s and 2000, and a further~24% reduction between 2000 and 2014 [6]. Glacier retreat between the 1950s and 2000 is thought to reflect rising temperatures and declining precipitation, whereas rapid retreat since 2000 is thought to be solely in response to a peninsula-wide increase in temperatures [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, an~11% reduction in glacier area has been reported for the peninsula as a whole between the 1950s and 2000, and a further~24% reduction between 2000 and 2014 [6]. Glacier retreat between the 1950s and 2000 is thought to reflect rising temperatures and declining precipitation, whereas rapid retreat since 2000 is thought to be solely in response to a peninsula-wide increase in temperatures [6]. Despite this overall retreat pattern, some of the peninsula's glaciers experienced periods of margin stability and/or advance during the 20th and early 21st centuries [7][8][9][10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, because many of the region's glaciers are extensively debris-covered (e.g., Figure 1B), monitoring changes in their extent and dynamics (e.g., flow velocity) is often difficult. This is exacerbated by logistical challenges with conducting fieldwork in central Kamchatka and the relative scarcity of cloud-free satellite imagery, due to the peninsula's maritime setting [6]. As a result, systematic monitoring of glacier behaviour in the NKVG, with a view to understanding controlling mechanisms (e.g., climatic versus volcanic forcing), is limited [9,10,14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Using ArcticDEM to Analyse the Dimensions and Dynamics of Debris-Covered Glaciers in Kamchatka, Russia

et al. 2018

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On the Kamchatka Peninsula, a number of glaciers are covered by thick volcanic debris, which makes their margins difficult to delineate from satellite imagery. Fortunately, high resolution, multi-temporal digital surface models (DSMs) covering the entire peninsula have recently become freely available (i.e., ArcticDEM). We use these DSMs to analyse the dimensions and dynamics of debris-covered glaciers in the northern Kluchevskoy Volcanic Group, central Kamchatka. This approach demonstrates that between 2012 and 2016, some of the region's glaciers advanced despite regional and local climate warming. These glacial advances are part of a long-term trend, presumed to reflect the role of extensive supraglacial debris in limiting ice ablation, though there is also evidence for local ice melt due to supraglacial lava/debris flows. Glacier surface velocities during the period 2012-2015 were typically 5-140 m yr −1 . Velocities for the major outlets of the region's central icefield were typically higher than for other extensively debris-covered glaciers globally, likely reflecting the influence of ice supply from the high altitude Ushkovsky caldera. In all, we find ArcticDEM useful for analysing debris-covered glaciers in Kamchatka, providing important information on flow dynamics and terminus change that is difficult to derive from satellite imagery.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Using ArcticDEM to Analyse the Dimensions and Dynamics of Debris-Covered Glaciers in Kamchatka, Russia

et al. 2018

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“…The rates of climate change and glacier recession since the 1980s have been exceptional as compared with the period between the Little Ice Age of the 1800s and the 1980s (e.g., Pellicciotti, Brock, Strasser, & Burlando, 2005;Lynch, Barr, Mullan, & Ruffell, 2016). This is leading to a rapid increase in the rate of production of deglaciated terrain, rendering abiotic heterogeneity more important because the spatial extent of deglaciated terrain produced over relatively short periods is very high (Cannone, 2008;Miller & Lane, 2019).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate‐driven change in the water sourced by trees in a de‐glaciating proglacial fore‐field, Torres del Paine, Chile

et al. 2019

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The colonization of proglacial margins by vegetation following glacier recession is a slow process, not least because glacially produced sediments are commonly well drained. Following from human‐induced climate change, warming could increase both growth rates and water availability because of glacier melting, so compensating for situations where climate change reduces precipitation. Compensation is likely a function of location, which will control access to meltwater and groundwater, themselves spatially variable. For the Olguin glacier (Torres del Paine, Chile), we test the hypothesis that as climate has warmed and precipitation has fallen, tree growth rate response is dependent upon the access of trees to glacial meltwater. Cores were taken from trees in three revegetating zones: (Z1) proglacial stream proximal, (Z3) proglacial stream distal, and (Z2) intermediate between Z1 and Z3. For trees within each zone, we measured annual tree‐ring widths and δ2H values. Z1 growth rates were strongly correlated with temperature and Z3 with precipitation, and Z2 showed a shift from precipitation correlation (i.e., following Z3) to temperature correlation (i.e., following Z1) through time. δ2H values were lowest at Z1, reflecting water of glacial origin, were highest at Z3, reflecting meteoric water supply, and shifted through time at Z2 from meteoric to glacial. Increased water supply associated with temperature‐driven glacier recession may compensate for decreasing water supply from precipitation to influence tree growth. This compensation is likely related to the spatial organization of the subsurface flux of glacial melt and leads to different revegetation processes to those envisaged in the classical chronosequence model of vegetation following glacier recession.

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