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Shrinkage of Satopanth and Bhagirath Kharak Glaciers, India, from 1936 to 2013

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2016

H.C. Nainwal ,
Argha Banerjee ,
R. Shankar ,
Prabhat Semwal  and
Tushar Sharma
H.C. Nainwal*
Affiliation:
HNB Garhwal Central University, Srinagar (Garhwal), Uttarakhand, India
Argha Banerjee
Affiliation:
Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, Mohanpur, India
R. Shankar
Affiliation:
The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai, India
Prabhat Semwal
Affiliation:
HNB Garhwal Central University, Srinagar (Garhwal), Uttarakhand, India
Tushar Sharma
Affiliation:
HNB Garhwal Central University, Srinagar (Garhwal), Uttarakhand, India
*
Correspondence: H.C. Nainwal <nainwalhc@yahoo.co.in>
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Abstract

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We have compiled and analysed available records and data on the shrinkage of Satopanth (SPG) and Bhagirath Kharak (BKG) Glaciers, Uttarakhand, India, during the period 1936–2013. We estimate the mean retreat rates of the snouts of SPG and BKG for this period at 9.7±0.8m a–1 and 7.0±0.6m a–1 respectively. We have also revised the estimates of the area vacated during the period 1956–2013 to be 0.27 ± 0.05 km2 and 0.17 ± 0.04 km2 for SPG and BKG respectively, corresponding to front-averaged retreat rates of 5.7±0.6m a–1 and 6.0±0.9m a–1. The study revealed an average thinning of glacial ice in the lower ablation zone of SPG of 9 ± 11 m in the past 51 years. We observed that while the fronts of SPG and BKG depicted in the Survey of India topographic map published in 1962 are inconsistent with other available records, the elevation contours are consistent with them.

Keywords

climate changedebris-covered glaciersglacier fluctuations
Type
Paper
Information
Annals of Glaciology , Volume 57 , Issue 71 , March 2016 , pp. 131 - 139
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2016

Footnotes

*

Present address: Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune, India.

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