Surge-type glaciers are widely developed in mountainous areas around the world.Understanding the trigger mechanism of glacier surge is a prerequisite for addressing their impacts on hydrological assessments,disentangl...Surge-type glaciers are widely developed in mountainous areas around the world.Understanding the trigger mechanism of glacier surge is a prerequisite for addressing their impacts on hydrological assessments,disentangling climate-glacier linkages,and mitigating downstream hazards.Most glacier surges occur in the compound glaciers;however,attention paid to the trigger mechanisms of such surges is minimal.This study confirmed two surges in the northern and southern branches of the Aru-4 glacier,respectively,in the Western Tibetan Plateau,using multisource remote sensing data.The northern branch of the Aru-4 glacier entered the active phase in 1999 and the active phase lasted for 6 years.The southern branch of the Aru-4 glacier entered the active phase in 2007 and the active phase lasted for 9 years.The southern branch of the Aru-4 glacier experienced a long period of retreat before the northern branch surged and their tongues were in a detached state.The northern branch surge carried a large amount of ice to the frontal area,blocking the downward transport of ice from the southern branch and initiated surge.Through the analysis of two surge processes of Aru-4 glacier,we found a new surge mechanism for compound glaciers.It was revealed that surges in such glaciers are not only triggered by the reduction in basal sliding resistance caused by the internal factors.These surges initiated in the upper part of the glacier then propagated to down glacier by intense compression force.Furthermore,surges can also be triggered by external intervention of blocking by other branches.This external trigger initiates the surge in the lower part of the glacier then propagated to the upper part by longitudinal traction force.In addition,comparing with the surge triggered by the internal factors,the surge triggered by the external intervention may have a more dramatic process.展开更多
Abnormal glacier movement is likely to result in canyon-type hazards chain,such as the barrier lake of Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon formed by glacier debris flow in October 2018 in China.Glacier hazard usually evolves ...Abnormal glacier movement is likely to result in canyon-type hazards chain,such as the barrier lake of Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon formed by glacier debris flow in October 2018 in China.Glacier hazard usually evolves from the glacier surge and may occur in a regular cycle.Understanding the characteristics and process of glacier surge is important for early hazard recognition and hazard assessment.Based on field investigations,remote sensing interpretations and SAR offset-tracking surveys,this study confirms a typical glacier surge in the northeast Pamir,and presents its characteristics and processes."Black ice"mixed moraines choking uplift and overflowing lateral marine are the most important scenic characteristics,which were formed under the conditions of stagnant glacier downstream and abundant super-glacial moraine.Glacier movement event can be divided into a five-period cycle including quiescent,inoculation,initiation,fracture and decline.This surge event lasted for about 300 days,initiated in February 2015 developed extensive fracturing zone in spring and early summer at maximum velocity of 10±0.95 m/day,declined after August 2015 and recovered to quiescent status in October 2015 for the next inoculation.The average height of glacier"receiving"area increased by 20-40 m with 2.7-3.6×10^8 m^3 ice transferred from glacier"reservoir",and this volume accumulation again require 50-100 years for glacier mass balance which gives approximately 100 years frequency of the glacier surge.Nevertheless,long-period increase of precipitation and temperature were favorable for the occurrence,hydrological instability is the direct triggering mechanism,and while the Glacier Lake Outburst Flood(GLOF)hazards are unlikely to occur with this surge.展开更多
The Puruogangri Ice Field(PIF),classified as an ultra-continental glacier,is considered extremely stable.However,several glaciers in this area have recently experienced surge events with significant instability and in...The Puruogangri Ice Field(PIF),classified as an ultra-continental glacier,is considered extremely stable.However,several glaciers in this area have recently experienced surge events with significant instability and information on surge-type glaciers(STGs)in this region remains scarce.In this study,we identified six STGs and reported the observed characteristics of their surging behavior in the region by mapping glacier boundaries,surface flow velocity information,and glacier surface elevation changes using recent Landsat satellite imagery and shuttle radar topography mission(SRTM),TanDEM,and ASTER digital elevation model(AST14DEM)data.These data provide valuable insights into recent glacial processes,flow instability,and rapid glacial movement.During the active phase of the glaciers,all exhibited frontal advances and changes in surface elevation.Owing to limitations in the satellite imagery,flow velocity profiles were only available for glaciers N1(G089071E33998N),NE1(G089128E33943N),and SE3(G089278E33913N)during the active phase.However,these results effectively reflect the velocity variations in both glaciers before,during,and after the surge.Based on the characteristics of the STG,scientific expeditions,and meteorological data,we believe that the surge in PIF was largely influenced by glacier meltwater and changes in subglacial drainage systems.展开更多
基金funded by the Open Research Fund of TPESER(Grant No.TPESER202502)the National Key Research and Development Program of China(Grant No.2024YFF0810700)+3 种基金the Science and Technology Program Project of Gansu Province,China(Grant No.25JRRA138)the Hydraulic Science Experimental Research and Technology Extension Project of Gansu Province,China(Grant No.25GSLK094)the Open Foundation of MOE Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental System,Lanzhou Universitythe Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(Grant No.1zujbky-2025-jdzx02)。
文摘Surge-type glaciers are widely developed in mountainous areas around the world.Understanding the trigger mechanism of glacier surge is a prerequisite for addressing their impacts on hydrological assessments,disentangling climate-glacier linkages,and mitigating downstream hazards.Most glacier surges occur in the compound glaciers;however,attention paid to the trigger mechanisms of such surges is minimal.This study confirmed two surges in the northern and southern branches of the Aru-4 glacier,respectively,in the Western Tibetan Plateau,using multisource remote sensing data.The northern branch of the Aru-4 glacier entered the active phase in 1999 and the active phase lasted for 6 years.The southern branch of the Aru-4 glacier entered the active phase in 2007 and the active phase lasted for 9 years.The southern branch of the Aru-4 glacier experienced a long period of retreat before the northern branch surged and their tongues were in a detached state.The northern branch surge carried a large amount of ice to the frontal area,blocking the downward transport of ice from the southern branch and initiated surge.Through the analysis of two surge processes of Aru-4 glacier,we found a new surge mechanism for compound glaciers.It was revealed that surges in such glaciers are not only triggered by the reduction in basal sliding resistance caused by the internal factors.These surges initiated in the upper part of the glacier then propagated to down glacier by intense compression force.Furthermore,surges can also be triggered by external intervention of blocking by other branches.This external trigger initiates the surge in the lower part of the glacier then propagated to the upper part by longitudinal traction force.In addition,comparing with the surge triggered by the internal factors,the surge triggered by the external intervention may have a more dramatic process.
基金supported by the National Key R&D Program of China(2018YFC1505002)CGS Research Fund(JYYWF20181501)+1 种基金National Natural Science Foundation of China(41672359)Chinese Academy of Sciences President’s International Fellowship Initiative(grant No.2018PC0009)
文摘Abnormal glacier movement is likely to result in canyon-type hazards chain,such as the barrier lake of Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon formed by glacier debris flow in October 2018 in China.Glacier hazard usually evolves from the glacier surge and may occur in a regular cycle.Understanding the characteristics and process of glacier surge is important for early hazard recognition and hazard assessment.Based on field investigations,remote sensing interpretations and SAR offset-tracking surveys,this study confirms a typical glacier surge in the northeast Pamir,and presents its characteristics and processes."Black ice"mixed moraines choking uplift and overflowing lateral marine are the most important scenic characteristics,which were formed under the conditions of stagnant glacier downstream and abundant super-glacial moraine.Glacier movement event can be divided into a five-period cycle including quiescent,inoculation,initiation,fracture and decline.This surge event lasted for about 300 days,initiated in February 2015 developed extensive fracturing zone in spring and early summer at maximum velocity of 10±0.95 m/day,declined after August 2015 and recovered to quiescent status in October 2015 for the next inoculation.The average height of glacier"receiving"area increased by 20-40 m with 2.7-3.6×10^8 m^3 ice transferred from glacier"reservoir",and this volume accumulation again require 50-100 years for glacier mass balance which gives approximately 100 years frequency of the glacier surge.Nevertheless,long-period increase of precipitation and temperature were favorable for the occurrence,hydrological instability is the direct triggering mechanism,and while the Glacier Lake Outburst Flood(GLOF)hazards are unlikely to occur with this surge.
基金The Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program,No.2019QZKK020102National Natural Science Foundation of China,No.42130516。
文摘The Puruogangri Ice Field(PIF),classified as an ultra-continental glacier,is considered extremely stable.However,several glaciers in this area have recently experienced surge events with significant instability and information on surge-type glaciers(STGs)in this region remains scarce.In this study,we identified six STGs and reported the observed characteristics of their surging behavior in the region by mapping glacier boundaries,surface flow velocity information,and glacier surface elevation changes using recent Landsat satellite imagery and shuttle radar topography mission(SRTM),TanDEM,and ASTER digital elevation model(AST14DEM)data.These data provide valuable insights into recent glacial processes,flow instability,and rapid glacial movement.During the active phase of the glaciers,all exhibited frontal advances and changes in surface elevation.Owing to limitations in the satellite imagery,flow velocity profiles were only available for glaciers N1(G089071E33998N),NE1(G089128E33943N),and SE3(G089278E33913N)during the active phase.However,these results effectively reflect the velocity variations in both glaciers before,during,and after the surge.Based on the characteristics of the STG,scientific expeditions,and meteorological data,we believe that the surge in PIF was largely influenced by glacier meltwater and changes in subglacial drainage systems.
