100-year mass changes in the Swiss Alps linked to the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation

Huss, Matthias; Hock, Regine; Bauder, Andreas; Funk, Martin

doi:10.1029/2010GL042616

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100-year mass changes in the Swiss Alps linked to the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation

Huss, Matthias Laboratory of Hydraulics, Hydrology and Glaciology, ETH Zurich, Switzerland - Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
Hock, Regine Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Alaska, USA - Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University, Sweden
Bauder, Andreas Laboratory of Hydraulics, Hydrology and Glaciology, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Funk, Martin Laboratory of Hydraulics, Hydrology and Glaciology, ETH Zurich, Switzerland

22.05.2010

Published in:

Geophysical Research Letters. - 2010, vol. 37, p. L10501

English Thirty new 100-year records of glacier surface mass balance, accumulation and melt in the Swiss Alps are presented. The time series are based on a comprehensive set of field data and distributed modeling and provide insights into the glacier-climate linkage. Considerable mass loss over the 20th century is evident for all glaciers, but rates differ strongly. Glacier mass loss shows multidecadal variations and was particularly rapid in the 1940s and since the 1980s. Mass balance is significantly anticorrelated to the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) index assumed to be linked to thermohaline ocean circulation. We show that North Atlantic variability had a recognizable impact on glacier changes in the Swiss Alps for at least 250 years.

Faculty

Faculté des sciences et de médecine

Department

Département de Géosciences

Language