Kneib et al. (2025) Topographically-controlled contribution of avalanches to glacier mass balance in the 21st century

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Repository for Publications and Research Data (ETH Zurich)
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-11-26
• Authors: Kneib, Marin, Maussion, Fabien, Brun, Fanny, Carcanade, Guillem, Farinotti, Daniel, Huss, Matthias, van Tiel, Marit, Jouberton, Achille, Schmitt, Patrick, Schuster, Lilian, Dehecq, Amaury, Champollion, Nicolas
• DOI: 10.3929/ethz-c-000788858

Research Groups

Not specified in the provided text.

Short Summary

This study quantifies the global contribution of avalanches to glacier snow accumulation and projects its impact on glacier evolution throughout the 21st century. It finds that avalanches provide a net 2% to global glacier accumulation, significantly altering mass balance patterns and prolonging the persistence of small glaciers under future warming scenarios.

Objective

• To estimate the contribution of avalanches to snow accumulation for all glaciers worldwide.
• To determine how avalanche contributions affect the evolution of glaciers throughout the 21st century.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Global (all glaciers in the world).
• Temporal Scale: 21st century.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Coupled avalanche model and glacier model.
• Data sources: Model simulations.

Main Results

• Globally, 3% of snow accumulation on glaciers originates from avalanches, while 1% is removed by avalanches, resulting in a net 2% contribution to glacier snow accumulation.
• The net avalanche contribution varies regionally, reaching a maximum of 15% for glaciers in New Zealand.
• Accounting for avalanches modifies the altitudinal pattern of glacier mass balance and the projected evolution of individual glaciers.
• Avalanches lead to a longer persistence of small glaciers; for instance, glaciers smaller than 1 square kilometer in Central Europe retain three times more ice under a low-emission scenario.
• The inclusion of avalanche processes increases the sensitivity of high-elevation accumulation zones to future warming.

Contributions

• Provides the first global quantification of the influence of avalanches on glacier snow accumulation and their projected impact on glacier evolution.
• Demonstrates that avalanches play a significant role in altering glacier mass balance patterns and can substantially prolong the survival of small glaciers, particularly under climate change.
• Highlights the necessity for improved monitoring and representation of avalanche processes in future glacier models.

Funding

Not specified in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Kneib2025Topographicallycontrolled,
  author = {Kneib, Marin and Maussion, Fabien and Brun, Fanny and Carcanade, Guillem and Farinotti, Daniel and Huss, Matthias and van Tiel, Marit and Jouberton, Achille and Schmitt, Patrick and Schuster, Lilian and Dehecq, Amaury and Champollion, Nicolas},
  title = {Topographically-controlled contribution of avalanches to glacier mass balance in the 21st century},
  journal = {Repository for Publications and Research Data (ETH Zurich)},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.3929/ethz-c-000788858},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-c-000788858}
}