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dc.contributor.authorKienholz, Christian
dc.contributor.authorPierce, Jamie
dc.contributor.authorHood, Eran
dc.contributor.authorAmundson, Jason M.
dc.contributor.authorWolken, Gabriel
dc.contributor.authorJacobs, Aaron
dc.contributor.authorHart, Skye
dc.contributor.authorJones, Katreen Wikstrom
dc.contributor.authorAbdel-Fattah, Dina
dc.contributor.authorJohnson, Crane
dc.contributor.authorConaway, Jeffrey S.
dc.date.accessioned2020-10-12T19:34:24Z
dc.date.available2020-10-12T19:34:24Z
dc.date.issued2020-05-27
dc.identifier.citationKienholz C, Pierce J, Hood E, Amundson JM, Wolken GJ, Jacobs A, Hart S, Wikstrom Jones K, Abdel-Fattah D, Johnson C and Conaway JS (2020) Deglacierization of a Marginal Basin and Implications for Outburst Floods, Mendenhall Glacier, Alaska. Front. Earth Sci. 8:137. doi: 10.3389/feart.2020.00137en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11122/11342
dc.descriptionThis article was submitted to Cryospheric Sciences, a section of the journal Frontiers in Earth Scienceen_US
dc.description.abstractSuicide Basin is a partly glacierized marginal basin of Mendenhall Glacier, Alaska, that has released glacier lake outburst floods (GLOFs) annually since 2011. The floods cause inundation and erosion in the Mendenhall Valley, impacting homes and other infrastructure. Here, we utilize in-situ and remote sensing data to assess the recent evolution and current state of Suicide Basin. We focus on the 2018 and 2019 melt seasons, during which we collected most of our data, partly using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). To provide longer-term context, we analyze DEMs collected since 2006 and model glacier surface mass balance over the 2006–2019 period. During the 2018 and 2019 outburst flood events, Suicide Basin released ∼ 30 Å~ 106 m3 of water within approximately 4–5 days. Since lake drainage was partial in both years, these ∼ 30 Å~ 106 m3 represent only a fraction (∼ 60%) of the basin’s total storage capacity. In contrast to previous years, subglacial drainage was preceded by supraglacial outflow over the ice dam, which lasted ∼ 1 day in 2018 and 6 days in 2019. Two large calving events occurred in 2018 and 2019, with submerged ice breaking off the main glacier during lake filling, thereby increasing the basin’s storage capacity. In 2018, the floating ice in the basin was 36 m thick on average. In 2019, ice thickness was 29 m, suggesting rapid decay of the ice tongue despite increasing ice inflow from Mendenhall Glacier. The ice dam at the basin entrance thinned by more than 5 m a–1 from 2018 to 2019, which is approximately double the rate of the reference period 2006–2018. While ice-dam thinning reduces water storage capacity in the basin, that capacity is increased by declining ice volume in the basin and longitudinal lake expansion, with the latter process challenging to predict. The potential for premature drainage onset (i.e., drainage before the lake’s storage capacity is reached), intermittent drainage decelerations, and early drainage termination further complicates prediction of future GLOF events.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipThis work was funded by the Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center (AK CASC). UAVs and other surveying equipment were partly funded through the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) award EAR-1921598. EH and SH were partially supported by the NSF award OIA-1753748 and the State of Alaska. Streamflow monitoring of the Mendenhall River and real-time imagery of Suicide Basin were funded by the U.S. Geological Survey Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.en_US
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherFrontiers in Earth Scienceen_US
dc.sourceFrontiers in Earth Scienceen_US
dc.subjectSuicide Basinen_US
dc.subjectGLOFen_US
dc.subjectUAVen_US
dc.subjectremote sensingen_US
dc.subjectmodelingen_US
dc.titleDeglacierization of a marginal basin and implications for outburst floodsen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
dc.description.peerreviewYesen_US
refterms.dateFOA2020-10-12T19:34:25Z
dc.identifier.journalFrontiers in Earth Science: Cryospheric Sciencesen_US


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