Thin debris layers do not enhance melting of the Karakoram glaciers.

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ID: 198033
2020
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Abstract
The assessment of meltwater sourcing from the clean and debris-covered glaciers is scarce in High Mountain Asia (HMA). The melting rate varies with the debris cover thickness and glacier orientation. The present study quantifies glacier melting rate attributed to varying thickness of debris cover in the Karakoram. We observed daily melting rates by installing ablation stakes over debris-free and debris-covered ice during a field expedition. The stakes were installed on glacier surface with debris cover thickness ranges between 0.5 and 40 cm at selected experimental sites during the ablation period (September and October 2018) and (July to August 2019). We selected three glaciers including Ghulkin, Hinarchi, and Hoper facing east, south, and north, respectively to assess the role of glacier orientation on melting rates. We observed that the debris-free ice melts faster than the debris-covered ice. Intriguingly, a thin debris layer of 0.5 cm does not enhance melting compared to the clean ice which is inconsistent with the earlier studies. The melting rate decreases as the thickness of debris cover increases at all the three selected glaciers. Furthermore, south-facing glacier featured the highest melting (on average ~ 25% more). However, the north and east-facing glaciers revealed almost same melting rates. We observed that the average degree-day factors (DDF) slightly varies within a range of 0.58-0.73 and 0.55-0.68 cm °C day for debris-free and 0.5 cm debris-covered ice, respectively, however, DDF largely reduces to 0.13-0.25 cm °C day for 40 cm debris-covered ice. We suggest continuous physical glacier ablation observations for various debris cover throughout the ablation zone to better understand the role of debris on melting.
Reference Key
muhammad2020thinthe Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Muhammad, Sher;Tian, Lide;Ali, Shaukat;Latif, Yasir;Wazir, Muhammad Atif;Goheer, Muhammad Arif;Saifullah, Muhammad;Hussain, Iqtidar;Shiyin, Liu;
Journal The Science of the total environment
Year 2020
DOI
S0048-9697(20)34648-9
URL
Keywords
ablation field measurements degree-day karakoram supraglacial debris

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