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| Titel |
Mass changes of Southern and Northern Inylchek Glacier, Central Tian Shan, Kyrgyzstan, during ∼1975 and 2007 derived from remote sensing data |
| VerfasserIn |
D. H. Shangguan, T. Bolch, Y. J. Ding, M. Kröhnert, T. Pieczonka, H. U. Wetzel, S. Y. Liu |
| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| ISSN |
1994-0416
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| Digitales Dokument |
URL |
| Erschienen |
In: The Cryosphere ; 9, no. 2 ; Nr. 9, no. 2 (2015-04-15), S.703-717 |
| Datensatznummer |
250116779
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| Publikation (Nr.) |
 copernicus.org/tc-9-703-2015.pdf |
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| Zusammenfassung |
| Glacier melt is an essential source of freshwater for the arid regions
surrounding the Tian Shan. However, the knowledge about glacier volume and
mass changes over the last decades is limited. In the present study, glacier
area, glacier dynamics and mass changes are investigated for the period
~1975–2007 for Southern Inylchek Glacier (SIG) and Northern
Inylchek Glacier (NIG), the largest glacier system in Central Tian Shan separated by
the regularly draining Lake Merzbacher. The area of NIG increased by
2.0 ± 0.1 km2 (~1.3%) in the period
~1975–2007. In contrast, SIG has shrunk continuously in all
investigated periods since ~1975. Velocities of SIG in the central
part of the ablation region reached ~100–120 m a−1 in
2002/2003, which was slightly higher than the average velocity in 2010/2011.
The central part of SIG flows mainly towards Lake Merzbacher rather than
towards its terminus. The measured velocities at the distal part of the
terminus downstream of Lake Merzbacher were below the uncertainty, indicating
very low flow with even stagnant parts. Geodetic glacier mass balances have
been calculated using multi-temporal digital elevation models from KH-9
Hexagon (representing the year 1975), SRTM3 (1999), ALOS PRISM (2006) and SPOT-5
high-resolution geometrical (HRG) data (2007). In general, a continuous mass loss for both SIG and NIG could be
observed between ~1975 and 2007. SIG lost mass at a rate of
0.43 ± 0.10 m w.e. a−1 and NIG at a rate of
0.25 ± 0.10 m w.e. a−1 within the period ~1975–1999.
For the period 1999–2007, the highest mass loss of 0.57 ± 0.46 m w.e. a−1 was found for NIG, whilst SIG showed a potential moderate mass
loss of 0.28 ± 0.46 m w.e. a−1. Both glaciers showed a small
retreat during this period. Between ~1975 and 1999, we identified a
thickening at the front of NIG with a maximum surface elevation increase of
about 150 m as a consequence of a surge event. In contrast significant
thinning (>0.5 m a−1) and comparatively high velocities close to
the dam of Lake Merzbacher were observed for SIG, indicating that Lake
Merzbacher enhances glacier mass loss. |
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