Articles | Volume 12, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-727-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-727-2024
Research article
 | 
13 May 2024
Research article |  | 13 May 2024

Stream hydrology controls on ice cliff evolution and survival on debris-covered glaciers

Eric Petersen, Regine Hock, and Michael G. Loso

Related authors

The demise of the world's largest piedmont glacier: a probabilistic forecast
Douglas Brinkerhoff, Brandon Tober, Michael Daniel, Victor Devaux-Chupin, Michael Christoffersen, John W. Holt, Christopher F. Larsen, Mark Fahnestock, Michael G. Loso, Kristin M. F. Timm, Russell Mitchell, and Martin Truffer
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2354,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2354, 2024
Short summary
Recent warming trends of the Greenland ice sheet documented by historical firn and ice temperature observations and machine learning
Baptiste Vandecrux, Robert S. Fausto, Jason E. Box, Federico Covi, Regine Hock, Åsa K. Rennermalm, Achim Heilig, Jakob Abermann, Dirk van As, Elisa Bjerre, Xavier Fettweis, Paul C. J. P. Smeets, Peter Kuipers Munneke, Michiel R. van den Broeke, Max Brils, Peter L. Langen, Ruth Mottram, and Andreas P. Ahlstrøm
The Cryosphere, 18, 609–631, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-609-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-609-2024, 2024
Short summary
Glaciers and climate of the Upper Susitna basin, Alaska
Andrew Bliss, Regine Hock, Gabriel Wolken, Erin Whorton, Caroline Aubry-Wake, Juliana Braun, Alessio Gusmeroli, Will Harrison, Andrew Hoffman, Anna Liljedahl, and Jing Zhang
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 403–427, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-403-2020,https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-403-2020, 2020
Short summary
An Arctic watershed observatory at Lake Peters, Alaska: weather–glacier–river–lake system data for 2015–2018
Ellie Broadman, Lorna L. Thurston, Erik Schiefer, Nicholas P. McKay, David Fortin, Jason Geck, Michael G. Loso, Matt Nolan, Stéphanie H. Arcusa, Christopher W. Benson, Rebecca A. Ellerbroek, Michael P. Erb, Cody C. Routson, Charlotte Wiman, A. Jade Wong, and Darrell S. Kaufman
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 11, 1957–1970, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-1957-2019,https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-1957-2019, 2019
Short summary
IACS: past, present, and future of the International Association of Cryospheric Sciences
Ian Allison, Charles Fierz, Regine Hock, Andrew Mackintosh, Georg Kaser, and Samuel U. Nussbaumer
Hist. Geo Space. Sci., 10, 97–107, https://doi.org/10.5194/hgss-10-97-2019,https://doi.org/10.5194/hgss-10-97-2019, 2019
Short summary

Related subject area

Physical: Geomorphology (including all aspects of fluvial, coastal, aeolian, hillslope and glacial geomorphology)
Automatic detection of floating instream large wood in videos using deep learning
Janbert Aarnink, Tom Beucler, Marceline Vuaridel, and Virginia Ruiz-Villanueva
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 167–189, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-167-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-167-2025, 2025
Short summary
Investigating uncertainty and parameter sensitivity in bedform analysis by using a Monte Carlo approach
Julius Reich and Axel Winterscheid
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 191–217, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-191-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-191-2025, 2025
Short summary
Geomorphic imprint of high-mountain floods: insights from the 2022 hydrological extreme across the upper Indus River catchment in the northwestern Himalayas
Abhishek Kashyap, Kristen L. Cook, and Mukunda Dev Behera
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 147–166, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-147-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-147-2025, 2025
Short summary
A numerical model for duricrust formation by water table fluctuations
Caroline Fenske, Jean Braun, François Guillocheau, and Cécile Robin
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 119–146, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-119-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-119-2025, 2025
Short summary
Width evolution of channel belts as a random walk
Jens M. Turowski, Fergus McNab, Aaron Bufe, and Stefanie Tofelde
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 97–117, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-97-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-97-2025, 2025
Short summary

Cited articles

Anderson, L. S. and Anderson, R. S.: Modeling debris-covered glaciers: response to steady debris deposition, The Cryosphere, 10, 1105–1124, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1105-2016, 2016. a
Anderson, L. S., Armstrong, W. H., Anderson, R. S., and Buri, P.: Debris cover and the thinning of Kennicott Glacier, Alaska: in situ measurements, automated ice cliff delineation and distributed melt estimates, The Cryosphere, 15, 265–282, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-265-2021, 2021a. a, b, c, d, e, f
Anderson, L. S., Armstrong, W. H., Anderson, R. S., Scherler, D., and Petersen, E.: The Causes of Debris-Covered Glacier Thinning: Evidence for the Importance of Ice Dynamics From Kennicott Glacier, Alaska, Front. Earth Sci., 9, 680995, https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.680995, 2021b. a, b, c, d
Anderson, R. S.: A model of ablation-dominated medial moraines and the generation of debris-mantled glacier snouts, J. Glaciol., 46, 459–469, https://doi.org/10.3189/172756500781833025, 2000. a
Bartholomaus, T. C., Anderson, R. S., and Anderson, S. P.: Growth and collapse of the distributed subglacial hydrologic system of Kennicott Glacier, Alaska, USA, and its effects on basal motion, J. Glaciol., 57, 985–1002, https://doi.org/10.3189/002214311798843269, 2011. a
Download
Short summary
Ice cliffs are melt hot spots that increase melt rates on debris-covered glaciers which otherwise see a reduction in melt rates. In this study, we show how surface runoff streams contribute to the generation, evolution, and survival of ice cliffs by carving into the glacier and transporting rocky debris. On Kennicott Glacier, Alaska, 33 % of ice cliffs are actively influenced by streams, while nearly half are within 10 m of streams.
Share