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Glacial
erosion rates from Alaskan tide-water glaciers
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are
exceptionally large (cm’s/yr) for the last century
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during rapid retreat, glacier surfaces
were lowered 100’s of
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meters
basin-wide.
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for tide-water
glaciers in Alaska, most of the ice is lost by
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calving, not
ablation, hence the drawdown results from greater ice
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loss by calving
than is added as snow. This
requires an
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acceleration
of ice transfer to lower elevations.
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research at Columbia glacier shows that ice
speeds increase with
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calving
and retreat rates
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\erosion rates are expected to increase
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with
the more rapid basal ice motion
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during
the retreat
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