Complex spatial feedbacks of tephra redistribution, ice melt and surface roughness modulate ablation on tephra covered glaciers

Nield, Joanna M., Chiverrell, Richard C., Darby, Stephen E., Leyland, Julian, Vircavs, Larisa H. and Jacobs, Benjamin (2013) Complex spatial feedbacks of tephra redistribution, ice melt and surface roughness modulate ablation on tephra covered glaciers. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 38 (1), 95-102. (doi:10.1002/esp.3352).

Abstract

Tephra fallout from the 2011 Grímsvötn eruption onto Svínafellsjökull, Iceland, created an ice-ash landscape of a type that is rarely studied but is nevertheless common in glaciovolcanic regions. We used terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) to measure ice surface topography and absorption at high spatial resolution, confirming ablation rates either reduce or increase under thick (insulating) and thin (reduced albedo) ash deposits, respectively. Fourier transform analysis of the TLS data identified that a three-fold increase in aerodynamic roughness was attributable to an increase in larger (>0.2m) surface features. Moreover, TLS measurements revealed the importance of ash redistribution by meltwater in generating differential melting which modifies roughness and ash patchiness, such that the net effect of these spatial ash-ice feedbacks was to reduce ablation rates by up to 59%. The modulating effects of these previously undocumented feedbacks on ablation rates are, therefore, significant and must be correctly parameterized if ashcovered glacier mass balances are to be predicted correctly.

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Contributors

Author: Joanna M. Nield

Author: Stephen E. Darby

Author: Julian Leyland

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