Understanding Complex Debris-Covered Glaciers: Concepts, Issues, and Research Directions

摘要: Understanding the climate-glacier dynamics of debris-covered glaciers is notoriously difficult given a multitude controlling factors and feedback mechanisms involving climate forcing, debris-load properties, supraglacial water bodies, multi-scale topographic effects. Recent studies have provided insights into factors, reported presence anomalies that generally contradict general consensus protective influence debris loads on ablation dynamics. Nevertheless, numerous processes regulate glacier at various spatial temporal scales not been adequately accounted for in statistical numerical modeling studies. Furthermore, important feedbacks ablation, topography, irradiance, gravitational flux ponding are often neglected or oversimplified existing models, which pose challenges to our understanding conflicting field observations such as accelerated downwasting many Himalayan glaciers, glacier-subsystem responses (ice-flow, flux, surface morphology bodies) forcing. This paper provides complexity systems by addressing concepts issues associated with forcing glacial processes, highlights importance system couplings feedbacks. Specifically, we review recent utilize simulation results based Baltoro Glacier central Karakoram discuss issues. Our demonstrate properties transport debris, topography bodies key system, their coupled effects positive may increase ice loss glacier. We also recommend new research directions future