The Role of Differential Ablation and Dynamic Detachment in Driving Accelerating Mass Loss From a Debris?Covered Himalayan Glacier

Sustained mass loss from Himalayan glaciers is causing supraglacial debris to expand and thicken, with the expectation that thicker will suppress ablation extend glacier longevity. However, debris-covered are losing at similar rates clean-ice in High Mountain Asia. This rapid attributed combined effects of; (a) low or reversed balance gradients across tongues, (b) differential processes locally enhance within section of glacier, for example, ice cliffs ponds, (c) a decrease flux accumulation area response climatic warming. Adding meter-scale spatial variations thickness an ice-flow model Khumbu Glacier, Nepal, increased by 47% relative simulations assuming continuous layer over 31-year period (1984–2015 CE) but overestimated reduction flux. Therefore, we investigated if simulating dynamic detachment upper active tongue would give better representation behavior, as suggested observations change dynamics structure indicating this process occurred during last 100 years. Observed was reproduced more reliably active, rather than entire, extent, Glacier has passed tipping point dynamically detaching heavily contains 20% former volume.