Modeling supraglacial lake drainage and its effects on the seasonal evolution of the subglacial drainage system in a tributary glacier setting

Abstract

This work aims to gain a better understanding of the relationship between glacier motion and water distributed through subglacial drainage systems. A numerical scheme (GlaDS) is used to model both inefficient and efficient drainage systems to see which dominates after the draining of a supraglacial lake on a synthetic glacier that is made up of an outline that features a main branch and a tributary. The geometry is based on the surgetype Black Rapids Glacier (Ahtna Athabascan name: Da lu'itsaa'den) in Alaska, where a lake develops in the higher ablation zone, and drains rapidly early in the melt season. It has also been observed that this lake drainage causes a twofold or threefold speed-up of the main branch, with some acceleration of the lower-lying Loket tributary. This speed-up can be considered a surrogate for a surge, which also initiates in the main branch, while, during times of quiescence, the ice flow on the tributary is dominant. We investigate the effects of varying timing and volume inputs of lake drainage with a focus on its effects beneath the tributary. We find that the response of the glacier depends on the seasonal timing, the amount of water from the draining lake, and its location on or near the margins of the glacier. Results show that an inefficient drainage system is the cause of the glacier speed-up, both when the lake drains rapidly or when there is an extended time in drainage, at any time of the season. The speed signals vary throughout the glacier depending on the location of the lake relative to that of an evolved efficient drainage system.