Department of Applied Geology, Indian Institute of Technology (ISM), Dhanbad, India.
Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, Seattle, USA.
Sci Rep. 2018 Jun 11;8(1):8885. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-27014-y.
This study analyses spatially resolved estimates of mass budget and surface velocity of glaciers in the Zanskar Basin of Western Himalaya in the context of varying debris cover, glacier hypsometry and orientation. The regional glacier mass budget for the period of 1999-2014 is -0.38 ± 0.09 m w.e./a. Individual mass budgets of 10 major glaciers in the study area varied between -0.13 ± 0.07 and -0.66 ± 0.09 m w.e./a. Elevation changes on debris-covered ice are considerably less negative than over clean ice. At the same time, glaciers having >20% of their area covered by debris have more negative glacier-wide mass budgets than those with <20% debris cover. This paradox is likely explained by the comparatively larger ablation area of extensively debris-covered glaciers compared to clean-ice glaciers, as indicated by hypsometric analysis. Additionally, surface velocities computed for the 2013-14 period reveal near stagnant debris-covered snouts but dynamically active main trunks, with maximum recorded velocity of individual glaciers ranging between ~50 ± 5.58 and ~90 ± 5.58 m/a. The stagnant debris-covered extent, which varies from glacier-to-glacier, are also characterized by ice cliffs and melt ponds that appreciably increase the overall surface melting of debris-covered areas.
本研究分析了西喜马拉雅扎斯卡盆地区域内变化的碎屑覆盖、冰川地形和朝向条件下的物质平衡和表面速度的空间分辨率估算。1999 年至 2014 年期间，该地区的区域冰川物质平衡为-0.38±0.09m w.e./a。研究区内 10 条主要冰川的个别物质平衡量在-0.13±0.07m w.e./a 至-0.66±0.09m w.e./a 之间变化。碎屑覆盖冰上的高程变化明显小于清洁冰上的高程变化。与此同时，碎屑覆盖面积超过 20%的冰川的整体物质平衡量比碎屑覆盖面积小于 20%的冰川更负。这种悖论可能是由地形分析表明的广泛碎屑覆盖冰川的消融面积比清洁冰冰川更大所解释的。此外，根据 2013-14 年期间计算的表面速度，我们发现碎屑覆盖的前端几乎停滞不前，但主要干流却非常活跃，个别冰川的最大记录速度在 50±5.58m/a 到 90±5.58m/a 之间。不同冰川之间存在的静止的碎屑覆盖范围还具有冰崖和融水池，这显著增加了碎屑覆盖区域的整体表面融化。
