New study found acceleration of rock glacier creep in Northern Tien Shan (Central Asia). This development indicates a possible significant increase in current sediment and ice fluxes through rock glaciers and implies that their material transport in the region might gain geomorphodynamic importance relative to material transport by glaciers, assuming the latter decreases together with the regional glacier shrinkage. The study demonstrates how air and satellite image archives are exploited to construct one of the longest decennial times series of rock glacier speeds currently available.
Publication:
Kääb, A., Strozzi, T., Bolch, T., Caduff, R., Trefall, H., Stoffel, M., Kokarev, A. (2021): Inventory and changes of rock glacier creep speeds in Ile Alatau and Kungöy Ala-Too, northern Tien Shan, since the 1950s. The Cryosphere, 15 (2), 927–949. doi:10.5194/tc-15-927-2021.
