Exploring beneath the retreating ice: swath bathymetry reveals sub- to proglacial processes and longevity of future alpine glacial lakes
Knowledge of how glaciations formed landscapes is particularly important as receding glaciers currently uncover subglacial landscapes that are prone to a series of natural hazards, but that also bring opportunities for hydropower or water resources. We present high-resolution (1 × 1 m) swath bathyme...
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Cambridge University Press
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Annals of Glaciology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0260305524000181/type/journal_article |
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| author | Siro L. Hosmann Stefano C. Fabbri Marius W. Buechi Michael Hilbe Andreas Bauder Flavio S. Anselmetti |
| author_facet | Siro L. Hosmann Stefano C. Fabbri Marius W. Buechi Michael Hilbe Andreas Bauder Flavio S. Anselmetti |
| author_sort | Siro L. Hosmann |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Knowledge of how glaciations formed landscapes is particularly important as receding glaciers currently uncover subglacial landscapes that are prone to a series of natural hazards, but that also bring opportunities for hydropower or water resources. We present high-resolution (1 × 1 m) swath bathymetric data of a proglacial lake in front of the Rhonegletscher (Swiss Alps) that started to form in the early 2000s allowing a look into a freshly uncovered glacier bed and its characterized morphology in an overdeepened setting. The comparison of two surveys from 2015 and 2021 allows an unprecedented quantification of the accumulation and erosion processes in the central lake basin. This highly dynamic environment is characterized by iceberg calving, fluctuating outflow conduits, rapid sedimentation due to particle-laden meltwaters and dumped glacial debris. Assuming constant sediment yield, the Rhone Lake would persist for ~300 years. However, as intense glacier retreat continues in the coming decades, a chain of overdeepened lakes will be revealed that will act as long persisting sediment traps. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6778be0b7c4549bc92b7ff1a71884f91 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 0260-3055 1727-5644 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Annals of Glaciology |
| spelling | doaj-art-6778be0b7c4549bc92b7ff1a71884f912025-08-20T02:03:46ZengCambridge University PressAnnals of Glaciology0260-30551727-56442025-01-016510.1017/aog.2024.18Exploring beneath the retreating ice: swath bathymetry reveals sub- to proglacial processes and longevity of future alpine glacial lakesSiro L. Hosmann0https://orcid.org/0009-0007-9115-314XStefano C. Fabbri1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0015-0442Marius W. Buechi2Michael Hilbe3Andreas Bauder4Flavio S. Anselmetti5Institute of Geological Sciences and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Baltzerstr. 1+3, CH-3012 Bern, SwitzerlandInstitute of Geological Sciences and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Baltzerstr. 1+3, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland Laboratoire EDYTEM, Université Savoie Mont Blanc, 5 bd de la mer Caspienne, F-73376 Le Bourget du Lac cedex, France Institut des sciences de la mer de Rimouski (ISMER), Université du Québec à Rimouski and GEOTOP, 310 Allée des Ursulines, QC G5L 2Z9, Rimouski, CanadaInstitute of Geological Sciences and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Baltzerstr. 1+3, CH-3012 Bern, SwitzerlandInstitute of Geological Sciences and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Baltzerstr. 1+3, CH-3012 Bern, SwitzerlandVersuchsanstalt für Wasserbau, Hydrologie und Glaziologie (VAW), ETH Zürich, Switzerland Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Birmensdorf, SwitzerlandInstitute of Geological Sciences and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Baltzerstr. 1+3, CH-3012 Bern, SwitzerlandKnowledge of how glaciations formed landscapes is particularly important as receding glaciers currently uncover subglacial landscapes that are prone to a series of natural hazards, but that also bring opportunities for hydropower or water resources. We present high-resolution (1 × 1 m) swath bathymetric data of a proglacial lake in front of the Rhonegletscher (Swiss Alps) that started to form in the early 2000s allowing a look into a freshly uncovered glacier bed and its characterized morphology in an overdeepened setting. The comparison of two surveys from 2015 and 2021 allows an unprecedented quantification of the accumulation and erosion processes in the central lake basin. This highly dynamic environment is characterized by iceberg calving, fluctuating outflow conduits, rapid sedimentation due to particle-laden meltwaters and dumped glacial debris. Assuming constant sediment yield, the Rhone Lake would persist for ~300 years. However, as intense glacier retreat continues in the coming decades, a chain of overdeepened lakes will be revealed that will act as long persisting sediment traps.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0260305524000181/type/journal_articleglacial geologyglacial geomorphologyglacial tillssubglacial processes |
| spellingShingle | Siro L. Hosmann Stefano C. Fabbri Marius W. Buechi Michael Hilbe Andreas Bauder Flavio S. Anselmetti Exploring beneath the retreating ice: swath bathymetry reveals sub- to proglacial processes and longevity of future alpine glacial lakes Annals of Glaciology glacial geology glacial geomorphology glacial tills subglacial processes |
| title | Exploring beneath the retreating ice: swath bathymetry reveals sub- to proglacial processes and longevity of future alpine glacial lakes |
| title_full | Exploring beneath the retreating ice: swath bathymetry reveals sub- to proglacial processes and longevity of future alpine glacial lakes |
| title_fullStr | Exploring beneath the retreating ice: swath bathymetry reveals sub- to proglacial processes and longevity of future alpine glacial lakes |
| title_full_unstemmed | Exploring beneath the retreating ice: swath bathymetry reveals sub- to proglacial processes and longevity of future alpine glacial lakes |
| title_short | Exploring beneath the retreating ice: swath bathymetry reveals sub- to proglacial processes and longevity of future alpine glacial lakes |
| title_sort | exploring beneath the retreating ice swath bathymetry reveals sub to proglacial processes and longevity of future alpine glacial lakes |
| topic | glacial geology glacial geomorphology glacial tills subglacial processes |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0260305524000181/type/journal_article |
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