Estimation of changes in the volume of ice making up Gornergletscher since the little ice age maximum

Few estimates of glacier volume and changes in mass over the past 150 years areavailable for the Swiss Alps. This thesis aims to estimate changes in the mass of icemaking up Gornergletscher since the Little Ice Age maximum extent (LIAM) in 1860in the context of climate change. Gornergletscher, the second largest glacier in theSwiss Alps, is one of few glaciers for which bedrock topography map is available,which makes it possible to estimate ice volume as well as changes in mass. Directobservations and measurements of changes in length of Gornergletscher are availablesince 1882. To quantify changes in thickness and volume of the glacier, topographicmaps from 1891, 1951 and 2001 and the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission digitalelevation model (SRTM DEM) from 1999 were used. The SRTM DEM and digitalelevation models of the glacier, derived from the maps, were processed using ESRFsArcGIS. The 1891 map was found inaccurate within the accumulation area of theglacier at the higher elevation range between approximately 2700-4600 m above sealevel (a.s.l.). Therefore, a loss of ice volume was observed, mainly within the ablationarea of the glacier, in the lower elevation range between approximately 1860-2600 m.The loss in ice volume of Gornergletscher between 1891 and 2001 in this lowerelevation area was 1.297 km3 , which is almost 50% of the total volume loss. Toimprove ice-volume calculations of the entire Gornergletscher since the LIAM extent,in the second half of the 19 th century, analysis of sources other than the 1891 map willhave to be undertaken.

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

Master's Level (Level 7)

Year dc:date.issued

2010

Author dc:creator

• Balounová, L

Language dc:language

en

Identifier

oai:salford-repository.worktribe.com:1337278

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:salford-repository.worktribe.com:1337278