Characterizing the May 2015 Karayaylak Glacier surge in the eastern Pamir Plateau using remote sensing

Donghui Shangguan,Baiqing Xu,Junli Xu,Shiyin Liu,Zongli Jiang,Wanqin Guo,Yongjian Ding

doi:10.1017/jog.2016.81

Donghui Shangguan, Baiqing Xu + Show 5 more

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https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2016.81

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Abstract

ABSTRACTWe investigate an internal surge of Karayaylak Glacier, which was reported by the media in May 2015. To differentiate the May 2015 glacier surge from other glacier advances, we surveyed changes in velocity, crevasses and glacier area using Landsat 8 OLI L1T, ZY-1-02C and Gaofen-1 images from October 2014 to July 2015. The velocity, measured by automatic feature extraction and tracking during the active phase, was 10–100 times the velocity during the quiescent phase, with a maximum of (20.2 ± 0.9) m d−1 (mean ± standard error) from 8 to 15 May 2015 in the west branch of the glacier. The surge initiation and termination took place from 13 April to 16 June 2015. Ice in the west branch (length, 7 km; area, 6.8 km2) of Karayaylak Glacier accelerated down to the east branch, leading to the development of crevasses and ice covering an additional 0.1 km2 of summer pasture on the northwestern side. However, we detected no advance of the glacier's terminus.

Highlights

Glacier surges occur in only a small percentage (13% show surge characteristics (Jiskoot and others, 1998; Hodgkins and others, 2007)
We analyzed surging of the Karayaylak Glacier and the characteristics of the surges based on changes in the glacier’s extent, crevasses and velocity calculated using satellite images
Satellitebased remote sensing allowed us to identify this internal surge despite the remoteness of the study region

Summary

Introduction

Glacier surges occur in only a small percentage (13% show surge characteristics (Jiskoot and others, 1998; Hodgkins and others, 2007). They undergo quasi-cyclic oscillations between shorter active phases (days to decades), and longer quiescent phases during which the glacier retreats to its minimal position (Meier and Post, 1969; Raymond, 1987; Eisen and others, 2001; Harrison and Post, 2003). Dowdeswell and Hamilton (1991) found that the duration of the active phase, ice velocities and surge triggering mechanisms in Svalbard are different than in other regions. The main cause for concern related to glacier surges is risk to surrounding infrastructure, dammed lakes and flooding caused by the release of water from glacier-dammed lakes (Hewitt, 1982; Huggel and others, 2005; Hausler and others, 2011)

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