Recent changes in area and thickness of Torngat Mountain glaciers (northern Labrador, Canada)
The Torngat Mountains National Park, northern Labrador, Canada, contains more than 120 small glaciers: the only remaining glaciers in continental northeast North America. These small cirque glaciers exist in a unique topo-climatic setting, experiencing temperate maritime summer conditions yet very c...
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doaj-48a8c39067ec42d6bce226b70eff843d2020-11-24T23:41:23ZengCopernicus PublicationsThe Cryosphere1994-04161994-04242017-01-0111115716810.5194/tc-11-157-2017Recent changes in area and thickness of Torngat Mountain glaciers (northern Labrador, Canada)N. E. Barrand0R. G. Way1T. Bell2M. J. Sharp3School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UKDepartment of Geography, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, CanadaDepartment of Geography, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, CanadaDepartment of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, CanadaThe Torngat Mountains National Park, northern Labrador, Canada, contains more than 120 small glaciers: the only remaining glaciers in continental northeast North America. These small cirque glaciers exist in a unique topo-climatic setting, experiencing temperate maritime summer conditions yet very cold and dry winters, and may provide insights into the deglaciation dynamics of similar small glaciers in temperate mountain settings. Due to their size and remote location, very little information exists regarding the health of these glaciers. Just a single study has been published on the contemporary glaciology of the Torngat Mountains, focusing on net mass balances from 1981 to 1984. This paper addresses the extent to which glaciologically relevant climate variables have changed in northern Labrador in concert with 20th-century Arctic warming, and how these changes have affected Torngat Mountain glaciers. Field surveys and remote-sensing analyses were used to measure regional glacier area loss of 27 % from 1950 to 2005, substantial rates of ice surface thinning (up to 6 m yr<sup>−1</sup>) and volume losses at Abraham, Hidden, and Minaret glaciers, between 2005 and 2011. Glacier mass balances appear to be controlled by variations in winter precipitation and, increasingly, by strong summer and autumn atmospheric warming since the early 1990s, though further observations are required to fully understand mass balance sensitivities. This study provides the first comprehensive contemporary assessment of Labrador glaciers and will inform both regional impact assessments and syntheses of global glacier mass balance.http://www.the-cryosphere.net/11/157/2017/tc-11-157-2017.pdf |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
N. E. Barrand R. G. Way T. Bell M. J. Sharp |
spellingShingle |
N. E. Barrand R. G. Way T. Bell M. J. Sharp Recent changes in area and thickness of Torngat Mountain glaciers (northern Labrador, Canada) The Cryosphere |
author_facet |
N. E. Barrand R. G. Way T. Bell M. J. Sharp |
author_sort |
N. E. Barrand |
title |
Recent changes in area and thickness of Torngat Mountain glaciers (northern Labrador, Canada) |
title_short |
Recent changes in area and thickness of Torngat Mountain glaciers (northern Labrador, Canada) |
title_full |
Recent changes in area and thickness of Torngat Mountain glaciers (northern Labrador, Canada) |
title_fullStr |
Recent changes in area and thickness of Torngat Mountain glaciers (northern Labrador, Canada) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Recent changes in area and thickness of Torngat Mountain glaciers (northern Labrador, Canada) |
title_sort |
recent changes in area and thickness of torngat mountain glaciers (northern labrador, canada) |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
series |
The Cryosphere |
issn |
1994-0416 1994-0424 |
publishDate |
2017-01-01 |
description |
The Torngat Mountains National Park, northern Labrador, Canada, contains more
than 120 small glaciers: the only remaining glaciers in continental northeast
North America. These small cirque glaciers exist in a unique topo-climatic
setting, experiencing temperate maritime summer conditions yet very cold and
dry winters, and may provide insights into the deglaciation dynamics of
similar small glaciers in temperate mountain settings. Due to their size and
remote location, very little information exists regarding the health of these
glaciers. Just a single study has been published on the contemporary
glaciology of the Torngat Mountains, focusing on net mass balances from 1981
to 1984. This paper addresses the extent to which glaciologically relevant
climate variables have changed in northern Labrador in concert with
20th-century Arctic warming, and how these changes have affected Torngat Mountain
glaciers. Field surveys and remote-sensing analyses were used to measure
regional glacier area loss of 27 % from 1950 to 2005, substantial rates of
ice surface thinning (up to 6 m yr<sup>−1</sup>) and volume losses at Abraham,
Hidden, and Minaret glaciers, between 2005 and 2011. Glacier mass balances
appear to be controlled by variations in winter precipitation and,
increasingly, by strong summer and autumn atmospheric warming since the
early 1990s, though further observations are required to fully understand
mass balance sensitivities. This study provides the first comprehensive
contemporary assessment of Labrador glaciers and will inform both regional
impact assessments and syntheses of global glacier mass balance. |
url |
http://www.the-cryosphere.net/11/157/2017/tc-11-157-2017.pdf |
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