Back to news
30 Apr 2020 | Cryosphere

New study finds that crevasses in Himalayan glaciers can play a key role in influencing ice temperature

2 mins Read

70% Complete
The research team surveying Rikha Samba Glacier with GPR in 2015 (Photo: Tenzing Chogyal Sherpa/ICIMOD)

Glaciers in cold and arid climates, such as in High Mountain Asia, can warm up much faster than expected because atmospheric warming is resulting in meltwater moving into glaciers through surface crevasses.

Temperate ice is at the pressure melting point, which is the melting temperature of ice at a given pressure, and contains water. Glaciers in high mountains are often considered to consist only of cold ice (ice temperature below pressure melting point). A 2020 study published in The Cryosphere by ICIMOD and its partners shows that Rikha Samba Glacier in the Himalaya is polythermal, meaning that it consists of both temperate and cold ice. In the study, the team found that the transition period from cold to temperate ice in high-altitude mountain glaciers could be much shorter than earlier assumed.

“We found that the basal ice in the upper part of Rikha Samba Glacier could switch from cold to temperate in 50–60 years instead of the expected 100–150 years without the crevasse effect”, says Adrien Gilbert, lead author of the study from the University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.

The research team combined field measurements made on Rikha Samba Glacier, a benchmark glacier monitored in Nepal, with remote sensing and numerical modelling to better understand the thermal structure of high-altitude mountain glaciers.

Originally, the team conducted ground-penetrating radar (GPR) surveys to estimate the ice volume of Rikha Samba Glacier. “To our surprise, in addition to the ice thickness, we saw large amounts of temperate ice within the glacier in the radar data”, explains Tika Gurung, ICIMOD, one of the authors of the paper.

A 4.5 km GPR profile of Rikha Samba Glacier
A 4.5 km GPR profile of Rikha Samba Glacier shows bedrock topography and large temperate ice zones within the glacier. (Source: Gilbert et al., 2020)

 

The team linked the temperate ice zones within the glacier with locations of surface crevasse fields. Numerical modelling demonstrated that deep water movement into the glacier through surface crevasses plays a crucial role in influencing the thermal structure of Rikha Samba Glacier. This indicates that similar processes apply elsewhere as well.

Rikha Samba Glacier is one of the benchmark glaciers being monitored as part of the Cryosphere Monitoring Programme in Nepal, being implemented by ICIMOD in collaboration with the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, Government of Nepal; Kathmandu University; Tribhuvan University; and the Water and Energy Commission Secretariat.

Source Gilbert et al 2020
(Source: Gilbert et al., 2020)

 

Stay current

Stay up to date on what’s happening around the HKH with our most recent publications and find out how you can help by subscribing to our mailing list.

Sign Up
26 Feb 2016 KSL
Access and Benefit Sharing Between Nepal and India

As part of transboundary cooperation within Kailash Sacred Landscape Conservation and Development Initiatives (KSLCDI), the International Centre for Integrated Mountain ...

30 Jul 2015 Atmosphere Initiative
Emerging platform for atmospheric scientists

Convective clouds change the distribution of air pollutants, washing out some with rainfall while transporting others high into the upper ...

22 May 2019 Atmosphere Initiative
Knowledge brokering and policy engagement through the CCAC to address atmospheric pollution

The CCAC is the first global effort to treat pollutants as a collective challenge. Formed in 2012, it is a ...

8 Apr 2016 News
Landscape Journey in Myanmar

A multidisciplinary team was organised in the Mu Lar-Nam Ru watershed area of Putao district in Kachin, Myanmar late February ...

25 May 2019 News
In conversation with a climate leader

Bhandari has been engaged in climate action and activism since 2013, working with youth groups and organizations. She has been ...

26 Nov 2018 REEECH
Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Capability for the Hindu Kush Himalaya (REEECH) Initiative launched to address energy poverty in the region

The HKH region is energy poor in spite of its vast potential for hydropower and other sources of energy such ...

17 Feb 2015 News
Improving Water Management through Satellite Remote Sensing Applications

At the inaugural session, Kamran Ali Qureshi, Federal Secretary at the Ministry of Science and Technology, emphasized ...

Third UIBN–AC Meeting discusses data gaps in Upper Indus basin research

The UIBN–AC Meeting was primarily held to recap previous meetings, discuss the progress made by the country chapter’s Technical Working ...