Spatial distribution of supraglacial debris thickness on glaciers of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and surroundings

• 作者: YaJie Zheng Yong Zhang Ju Gu Xin Wang ZongLi Jiang JunFeng Wei
• 来源期刊: 寒旱区科学（英文版）
• 年，卷（期）: 2020,（6）
• 所属期刊栏目: Articles
• 页码范围: 447-460
• 页数: 14页
• 语种: 英文

摘要

Debris-covered glaciers, characterized by the presence of supraglacial debris mantles in their ablation zones, are wide-spread in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and surroundings. For these glaciers, thin debris layers acceler-ate the melting of underlying ice compared to that of bare ice, while thick debris layers retard ice melting, called debris-cover effect. Knowledge about the thickness and thermal properties of debris cover on CPEC glaciers is still unclear, mak-ing it difficult to assess the regional debris-cover effect. In this study, thermal resistance of the debris layer estimated from remotely sensed data reveals that about 54.0％of CPEC glaciers are debris-covered glaciers, on which the total debris-cov-ered area is about 5,072 km2, accounting for 14.0％of the total glacier area of the study region. We find that marked differ-ence in the extent and thickness of debris cover is apparent from region to region, as well as the debris-cover effect. 53.3％of the total debris-covered area of the study region is concentrated in Karakoram, followed by Pamir with 30.2％of the to-tal debris-covered area. As revealed by the thermal resistance, the debris thickness is thick in Hindu Kush on average, with the mean thermal resistance of 7.0×10-2 ((m2?K)/W), followed by Karakoram, while the thickness in western Himalaya is thin with the mean value of 2.0×10-2 ((m2?K)/W). Our findings provide a basis for better assessments of changes in debris-covered glaciers and their associated hydrological impacts in the CPEC and surroundings.