naito_etal_2002.html
Bulletin of Glaciological Research 19 (2002) 41-46
©Japanese Society of Snow and Ice
Surface lowering over the ablation area of Lirung Glacier, Nepal Himalayas
Nozomu
NAITO1, Tsutomu
KADOTA2, Koji FUJITA1,
Akiko SAKAI1 and
Masayoshi NAKAWO3
1 Graduate
School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8601
JAPAN
2 Frontier Observational Research System for Global Change, 3173-25
Syowamachi, Yokohama 236-0001 JAPAN
3 Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Kyoto 606-8502
JAPAN
Abstract
Repeated surveys for six transverse surface profiles on the debris-covered ablation area of Lirung Glacier, Nepal Himalayas, reveal that the glacier surface has lowered from 1996 to 1999. The average annual rate of the surface lowering is evaluated to be in a range from 1 to 2 m a-1. The emergence velocity is also estimated to be about 0.2 m a-1 on average for the ablation area, using surface flow and ice thickness data. A relation with mass balance in the continuity equation roughly supports these results. The surface lowering is suggested to have accelerated possibly since late 1980s. In addition, the lowering rate is discussed in comparison with those on other glaciers in the Nepal Himalayas.
