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Glaciers in High Mountain Asia have been shrinking in the recent decades. They are a valuable indicator of climate change, and their meltwater plays an important role for regional water resources. Debris-covered glaciers, which are prevalent throughout the Himalayas, exhibit complex melt processes due to their heterogeneous surface. Previous studies have demonstrated that ice cliffs disproportionally contribute to glacier melt, but their importance at the glacier scale has been quantified for only a few sites. In this study, we exploit measurements taken since 2016 on the lake-terminating Trakarding Glacier (27.9°N, 86.5°E; 2.9 km2 spanning 4,500–5,000 m a.s.l.; ~5% ice cliff cover), eastern Nepal Himalaya, to investigate the importance of cliffs for debris-covered ice melt at the glacier scale from a remote-sensing inversion and energy-balance modeling. We generated super-high-resolution (0.2 m) terrain data from aerial photographs (UAV and helicopter-borne photogrammetry) during 2018-2019 and manually delineated ~500 ice cliffs to derive surface velocity, elevation change, and specific mass balance, providing an observational estimate of ablation across the debris-covered tongue and attributable to ice cliffs. Further we employed a process-based 3D-backwasting model to estimate continuous ice cliff mass-loss over the study period. The model calculates the energy balance of ice cliff surfaces and reproduces their evolutions (cliff expansion, shrinkage, and reburial), based on the characteristics of the glacier surface and location of individual ice cliffs. This method, forced with in-situ meteorological and terrain data and evaluated against the observed changes, provides ice cliff mass-loss from the scale of individual features to the entire Trakarding Glacier.

Recent observations suggest that the nocturnal thermal fracturing of ice occurs at relatively warm temperatures (above -15 degrees C) at a high-altitude Himalayan glacier system unless the ice is shielded by a debris mantle. Here we estimate the stresses induced by diurnal temperature variations using viscous, elastic, and two viscoelastic models, and various thicknesses of the debris mantle. Only the elastic and visco-elastic models are in agreement with the observations. The timing and amplitudes of the stresses in the upper 15 cm of the glacier are different among the models despite the ability of each approach to predict a diurnal increase in tension exceeding the critical threshold proposed for crevasse formation. For example, the elastic stress is several times larger than the viscous stress at the ice surface (650 vs. 250 kPa) and reaches its peak up to 5-6hr later in the night. The time lag is in line with the seismic records, suggesting that the viscous model is not appropriate. Furthermore, a debris layer of >= 50cm in thickness suppresses the diurnal fluctuations in thermal stress and therefore protects the ice from mechanical damage. We suggest that high-amplitude diurnal cooling and weak ice properties due to weathering are essential factors that influence thermal fracturing in the Himalayan environment. The ongoing expansion of seismic networks into cryospheric regions, which will be capable of detecting local thermal-contraction-induced cracks, in combination with the fact that such cracks can erode and weaken the ice, and thereby serve as meltwater and heat channels, warrants further research to better understand these near-surface processes and to monitor ice properties. Plain Language Summary Thermal fracturing is an important erosion process on the icy surfaces of solar system bodies, including Earth, Mars, and comets. However, the exact timing of this thermal fracturing process is poorly constrained, despite the need for this information to validate models, and its importance in the weathering of glacial ice is largely unknown and often overlooked. Recent seismic observations revealed nocturnal thermal fracturing of a high-altitude Himalayan debris-covered glacier. These observations in Nepal suggested that glacial ice bursted with icequakes as temperature decreased unless ice was protected with a thick debris cover. In this study we consider four different numerical approaches to describe material behaviour of ice under thermal stress in order to find out how debris modulates stresses and which method agrees with the experimental evidence. We numerically estimate thermal stress conditions near the surface of a glacier with and without debris and find that a half-of-a-meter-thick debris is sufficient to protect ice from mechanical damage induced by diurnal variation of temperature. Furthermore, our study suggests that thermal stress could be an important factor for weathering of exposed ice and that this process needs more attention since it is possible that new cracks can facilitate ablation.

What are the main morphological factors that control the heterogeneous responses of debris-covered glaciers to climate change in the southern central Himalaya? A debate is open whether thinning rates on debris-covered glaciers are comparable to those of debris-free ones. Previous studies have adopted a deterministic approach, which is indispensable, but is also limiting in that only a few glaciers can be monitored. In this context, we propose a statistical analysis based on a wider glacier population as a complement to these deterministic studies. We analysed 28 glaciers situated on the southern slopes of Mt. Everest in the central southern Himalaya during the period 1992–2008. This study combined data compiled by three distinct studies for a common period and population of glaciers for use in a robust statistical analysis. Generally, surface gradient was the main morphological factor controlling the features and responses of the glaciers to climate change. In particular, the key points that emerged are as follows. 1) Reduced downstream surface gradient is responsible for increased glacier thinning. 2) The development of supraglacial ponds is a further controlling factor of glacier thinning: where supraglacial ponds develop, the glaciers register further surface lowering. 3) Debris coverage and thickness index were not found to be significantly responsible for the development of supraglacial ponds, changes in elevation, or shifts in snow line altitude.

Coseismic avalanches and rockfalls, as well as their simultaneous air blast and muddy flow, which were induced by the 2015 Gorkha earthquake in Nepal, destroyed the village of Langtang. In order to reveal volume and structure of the deposit covering the village, as well as sequence of the multiple events, we conducted an intensive in situ observation in October 2015. Multitemporal digital elevation models created from photographs taken by helicopter and unmanned aerial vehicles reveal that the deposit volumes of the primary and succeeding events were 6.81 ± 1.54 × 106 and 0.84 ± 0.92 × 106 m3, respectively. Visual investigations of the deposit and witness statements of villagers suggest that the primary event was an avalanche composed mostly of snow, while the collapsed glacier ice could not be dominant source for the total mass. Succeeding events were multiple rockfalls which may have been triggered by aftershocks. From the initial deposit volume and the area of the upper catchment, we estimate an average snow depth of 1.82 ± 0.46 m in the source area. This is consistent with anomalously large snow depths (1.28–1.52 m) observed at a neighboring glacier (4800–5100 m a.s.l.), which accumulated over the course of four major snowfall events between October 2014 and the earthquake on 25 April 2015. Considering long-term observational data, probability density functions, and elevation gradients of precipitation, we conclude that this anomalous winter snow was an extreme event with a return interval of at least 100 years. The anomalous winter snowfall may have amplified the disastrous effects induced by the 2015 Gorkha earthquake in Nepal.

Co-seismic avalanches and rock falls, and their simultaneous air blasts, which were induced by the 2015 Gorkha earthquake in Nepal, destroyed the village of Langtang. In order to reveal volume and structure of the deposit covering the village, and sequence of the multiple events, we conducted an intensive in-situ observation in October 2015. Multi-temporal digital elevation models created from photographs taken by helicopter and unmanned aerial vehicles reveal that the deposit volumes of the primary and succeeding events were 6.81 × 106 m3 and 0.84 × 106 m3, respectively. Visual investigations of the deposit and witness statements of villagers suggest that the primary event was an avalanche composed mostly of snow, while the contribution of collapsed glacier ice could account for a few percent of the total mass. Succeeding events were multiple rock falls which may have been triggered by aftershocks. From the initial deposited volume and the upper catchment area, we estimate an average snow depth of 1.56 m in the source area using density assumptions of snow and ice. This is consistent with anomalously large snow depths (1.28–1.52 m) observed at a neighboring glacier (4800–5100 m a.s.l.), which accumulated over the course of four major snowfall events since October 2014. Considering long-term observational data, probability density functions, and elevation gradients of precipitation, we conclude that this anomalous winter snow was an extreme event with a return interval of at least 100 years, which amplified or even caused the disaster induced by the 2015 Gorkha earthquake in Nepal.