Search results for "glacier"
showing 10 items of 67 documents
Approche multivariée des facteurs influençant le bilan de masse d’un glacier arctique
2015
National audience; L’Arctique est la zone géographique où la modification du climat au cours du XXIieme siècle sera la plus forte de la planète. La totalité de la cryosphère (banquise, glaciers, pergélisol, etc.) subira de profondes altérations qui se traduiront spatialement par des évolutions majeures. Les glaciers sont de bons indicateurs de ces changements, aussi bien à une échelle locale que globale, car leur dynamique est très sensible au climat. Cette étude porte sur un glacierdu Spitsberg où il a été observé que des conditions climatiques et nivologiques contrastées d’une année sur l’autre avaient des conséquences multiples, et parfois inattendues, sur les bilans de masse.
A multivariate approach of the factors impacting a small arctic glacier, Austre Lovén-Spitsberg
2015
International audience; Arctic glaciers are good indicators of the ongoing climate change as their dynamics are strongly linked to it. This study is focused on the Austre Lovén glacier, on the Brøgger peninsula in Spitsbergen (Svalbard, 79°N). The aim is to understand how contrasted climate and snow conditions over the course of a year can lead to multiple consequences, sometimes unexpected, on mass balance. In 2014, a negative budget was expected, but data analysis has shown the first positive mass balance in 7 years. The objective here is to (i) identify and qualify the combination of factors affecting an arctic glacier mass balance. Three primary indicators seem to display the greatest i…
Évaluation de l'influence des facteurs climatiques sur le bilan de masse du glacier Austre Loven (Spitsberg, 79°N) par une approche multivariée
2016
Arctic is a region where a quick warming is ongoing. Effects are particularly visible on glaciers of which dynamics is very sensitive to climate change. The goal of this study is to identify and rank the main climatological and nivological factors influencing the mass balance of a small arctic glacier in Svalbard using a statistical approach. To highlight spatial differences, cartography were then used. Results show that positive degree-days play an important role in explaining mass balance contrary to liquid precipitations that had a marginal effect over the studied period (2007-2014). Moreover, years with very different climatic conditions can lead to a similar mass balance.
A particle based simulation model for glacier dynamics
2013
This publication is contribution number 22 of the Nordic Centre of Excellence SVALI, “Stability and Variations of Arctic Land Ice”, funded by the Nordic Top-level Research Initiative (TRI). The work has been supported by the SVALI project through the University of Lapland, Arctic Centre, and through the University Centre in Svalbard. Funding was also provided by the Conoco-Phillips and Lunding High North Research Program (CRIOS: Calving Rates and Impact on Society). A particle-based computer simulation model was developed for investigating the dynamics of glaciers. In the model, large ice bodies are made of discrete elastic particles which are bound together by massless elastic beams. These…
Évolution contemporaine des glaciers arctiques: exemple de l'Austre Lovénbreen (79°N)
2016
International audience
Glacier drainage and sandur formation at Kötlujökull, South Iceland
1985
Abstract Over a number of years research on a stretch of the southeastern glacier margin of Kotlujokull in South Iceland, 8 km in length, has focused on correlating the manner of glacier drainage with the genesis of sandar, exemplified by the recent evolution of the glacier foreland. The research has yielded the following results. During an initial period, beginning prior to 1945 and ending between 1966 and 1975, a belt of moraines about 1 km wide was destroyed in stages, except for a few remnants, by 11 outbreaks of subglacial meltwater at different times and locations along the glacier front. These outbursts were associated with the genesis of “ordinary”; sandar, which are referred to her…
Termini of calving glaciers as self-organized critical systems
2014
Calving margins are highly sensitive to changes in climate and glacier terminus geometry. Numerical modelling suggests that calving glacier termini are self-organized critical systems that are fluctuating between states of advance and retreat. Over the next century, one of the largest contributions to sea level rise will come from ice sheets and glaciers calving ice into the ocean1. Factors controlling the rapid and nonlinear variations in calving fluxes are poorly understood, and therefore difficult to include in prognostic climate-forced land-ice models. Here we analyse globally distributed calving data sets from Svalbard, Alaska (USA), Greenland and Antarctica in combination with simulat…
Quaternary Glaciations in the French Alps and Jura
2011
During last glacial maximum, the pre-existing relief of the Alps and the Jura Mountains controlled glacier development. The Jura massive morphology, only slightly dissected by valleys, resulted in a wide ice-sheet; and this situation contrasts with the Alps where numerous deep valleys were filled by big glaciers.
Improved discrimination of subglacial and periglacial erosion using10Be concentration measurements in subglacial and supraglacial sediment load of th…
2015
Deciphering the complex interplays between climate, uplift and erosion is not straightforward and estimating present-day erosion rates can provide useful insights. Glaciers are thought to be powerful erosional agents, but most published ‘glacial’ erosion rates combine periglacial, subglacial and proglacial erosion processes. Within a glaciated catchment, sediments found in subglacial streams originate either from glacial erosion of substratum or from the rock walls above the glacier that contribute to the supraglacial load. Terrestrial cosmogenic nuclides (TCN) are produced by interactions between cosmic ray particles and element targets at the surface of the Earth, but their concentration …
Effects of glaciation on karst hydrology and sedimentology during the Last Glacial Cycle: The case of Granito cave, Central Pyrenees (Spain)
2021
In Alpine regions, speleothem development on karst systems largely occurs during warm interglacial or interstadial phases due to their limited growth during cold stages. Still, recent attention has been given to the role of clastic sediments in caves, less dependent on temperature conditions. Yet, only a small number of caves worldwide preserve both speleothems and detrital deposits. Here we present an outstanding record of fine-grain laminated sediments and carbonate speleothems from the Granito cave (South Central Pyrenees, Spain) associated with seasonal to annual hydroclimatic pulses through the Last Glacial Cycle (LGC). Analysis of cave clastic facies together with new absolute dates o…