English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Free Plan

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

. Debris-covered glaciers are commonly found in alpine landscapes of high relief and play an increasingly important role in a warming climate. As a result of the insulating effect of supraglacial debris, their response to changes in climate is less direct and their dynamic behaviour more complex than for debris-free glaciers. Due to a lack of observations, here we use numerical modelling to explore the dynamic interactions between debris cover and geometry evolution for an idealized glacier over centennial timescales. The main goal of this study is to understand the effects of debris cover on the glacier's transient response. To do so, we use a numerical model that couples ice flow, debris transport, and its insulating effect on surface mass balance and thereby captures dynamic feedbacks that affect the volume and length evolution. In a second step we incorporate the effects of cryokarst features such as ice cliffs and supraglacial ponds on the dynamical behaviour. Our modelling indicates that thick debris cover delays both the volume response and especially the length response to a warming climate signal. Including debris dynamics therefore results in glaciers with extended debris-covered tongues and that tend to advance or stagnate in length in response to a fluctuating climate at century timescales and hence remember the cold periods more than the warm. However, when including even a relatively small amount of melt enhancing cryokarst features in the model, the length is more responsive to periods of warming and results in substantial mass loss and thinning on debris-covered tongues, as is also observed.

Modelling steady states and the transient response of debris-covered glaciers