Quantifying the controls on, influences and glaciological impacts of glacier disconnections on ice masses in the Himalaya (Op2302)

喜马拉雅冰川正在迅速变薄和消退，以应对持续的气候变化。地形进一步赋予这些冰川对气候变化的非线性反应，导致整个地区的异质变薄和衰退。然而，近几十年来令人震惊的变薄和退缩速度已经导致许多喜马拉雅冰川的积累和消融区之间的分离和断开。鉴于变暖的速度，这一趋势预计将继续下去，因为冰川将减少浪费和碎片化。冰川堆积区和消融区之间的脱节会导致冰舌停滞，表面速度降低，碎片覆盖增加，加速退缩。在喜马拉雅山，对冰块和冰流动力学断开的控制和影响研究不足，这妨碍了我们可靠地预测该地区未来冰川行为的能力。可靠的预测对于评估该区域未来的融水供应、可持续的水资源管理和对迫在眉睫的冰冻圈危险的准备至关重要。因此，我的项目的主要目标是量化冰川断开的气候，冰川学和地形控制，研究断开对冰川冰量和冰流动力学的物理影响，并量化冰川断开问题在喜马拉雅山脉的广泛程度使用遥感方法，冰川数值模拟和实地研究相结合。

Himalayan glaciers are thinning and receding rapidly in response to the ongoing climate change. The topography further imparts the non-linear response of these glaciers to climate change, leading to a heterogenous thinning and recession across the region. However, the alarming rate of thinning and receding in recent decades has caused detachment and disconnections between the accumulation and ablation area in many Himalayan glaciers. This trend is expected to continue as glaciers will downwaste and fragment more, given the warming rates. Disconnections between glacier's accumulation and ablation areas can lead to stagnation of glacier tongue with reduced surface velocity, increased debris cover and accelerated recession. The controls on and influence of disconnections on ice masses and ice flow dynamics are understudied in the Himalaya, and this hampers our ability to reliably predict future glacier behaviour in the region. Reliable prediction is crucial for assessing future melt water availability, sustainable water resource management and preparedness towards looming cryospheric hazards in the region. So, the main goals of my project are to quantify the climatic, glaciological, and topographic controls on glacier disconnections, to study the physical impacts of disconnections on glacier ice mass and ice flow dynamics and to quantify how widespread the issue of glacier disconnections is in the Himalayas using a combination of remote sensing methods, numerical modelling of glaciers and field-based studies.