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

由于持续的气候变化，喜马拉雅冰川正在迅速变薄和消退。地形进一步赋予这些冰川对气候变化的非线性响应，导致整个地区的非均质变薄和衰退。然而，近几十年来，喜马拉雅冰川以惊人的速度变薄和退缩，造成了许多冰川堆积区和消融区之间的分离和断裂。考虑到变暖的速度，这一趋势预计将继续下去，因为冰川将减少，更多地浪费和破碎。冰川堆积区和消融区之间的分离会导致冰舌的停滞，表面速度降低，碎屑覆盖增加，退缩加速。在喜马拉雅地区，断裂对冰块和冰流动力学的控制和影响尚未得到充分研究，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地区未来的融水可用性、可持续水资源管理和为即将到来的冰冻圈灾害做好准备至关重要。因此，我项目的主要目标是量化冰川断裂的气候、冰川学和地形控制，研究冰川断裂对冰川冰块和冰流动力学的物理影响，并通过遥感方法、冰川数值模拟和实地研究相结合，量化冰川断裂问题在喜马拉雅地区的普遍程度。

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.