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Manifestations and mechanisms of the Karakoram glacier Anomaly

Abstract

Global-scale glacier shrinkage is one of the most prominent signs of ongoing climatic change. However, important differences in glacier response exist at the regional scale, and evidence has accumulated that one particular region stands out: the Karakoram. In the past two decades, the region has shown balanced to slightly positive glacier budgets, an increase in glacier ice flow speeds, stable to partially advancing glacier termini and widespread glacier surge activity. This is in stark contrast to the rest of High Mountain Asia, where glacier retreat and slowdown dominate, and glacier surging is largely absent. Termed the Karakoram Anomaly, recent observations show that the anomalous glacier behaviour partially extends to the nearby Western Kun Lun and Pamir. Several complementary explanations have now been presented for the Anomaly’s deeper causes, but our understanding is far from complete. Whether the Anomaly will continue to exist in the coming decades remains unclear, but its long-term persistence seems unlikely in light of the considerable warming anticipated by current projections of future climate.

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Fig. 1: Distribution of Karakoram glaciers and climate characteristics.

Base map from Esri, USGS, NOAA and glacier data from ref. 2 (a); reproduced with permission from ref. 101, John Wiley and Sons (b); Google Earth (c); courtesy of Rina Saeed Khan (d)

Fig. 2: Recent glacier changes in High Mountain Asia.
Fig. 3: Potential meteoclimatic drivers of the Karakoram Anomaly.
Fig. 4: Schematic of the process chain leading to anomalous glacier evolution.

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Data availability

The data shown in the individual figures are available in the publications cited.

Code availability

The code used to produce Figs. 2 and 3 is available from the corresponding author on request.

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Acknowledgements

We thank F. Brun for providing the data underlying Fig. 2 and Supplementary Fig. 1, and J. Norris for providing the data for Supplementary Fig. 3.

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D.F. initiated the study, designed the figures and led the writing, to which all authors contributed. W.W.I. and D.Q. provided materials for Fig. 1 and Box 1. A.D. provided materials for Figs. 1 and 2. The analyses shown in Fig. 3 and Supplementary Figs. 2 and 3 were performed by R.d.K. R.d.K. and W.W.I. conceived Fig. 4, with additions from A.D., D.F. and D.Q.

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Correspondence to Daniel Farinotti.

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Farinotti, D., Immerzeel, W.W., de Kok, R.J. et al. Manifestations and mechanisms of the Karakoram glacier Anomaly. Nat. Geosci. 13, 8–16 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0513-5

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