ADO bus to downtown Cancun

[munnaf141579]

Then melted off the ice during its journey down the valley. “As soon as the thickness reaches a certain value, the layer insulates the ice,” Mayer said. By measuring how much heat was moving within the debris layer, it became clear that not enough heat was traveling to melt the ice beneath. So for some areas within the Karakoram, the debris is preventing the glaciers from melting. But what about the bigger picture? To this day there has been no accurate measure of mass balance in the Karakoram. Satellite images of a glacier help determine its length and width, but to appreciate the details of ice gain and loss, field work is crucial – specifically, mass balance measurements that measure the difference between snow accumulation and snow and ice melt.

Stick to the facts
These field studies involve exposing researchers to the extremes of terrain. “Fieldwork in the Karakoram is not easy,” Mayer said. It’s a four- to four-day hike to reach the snout of the Baltoro Glacier. The whatsapp in korea debris-covered glaciers are rough and loose underfoot. “There are rocks several meters thick in diameter,” Mayer added. “Everything is unstable here.” Researchers drive 2-meter (6.6-foot) long wooden poles, connecting them for a total length of 12 meters (39 feet), into the ice to measure a glacier’s speed and change in height. Is the surface sinking or rising?



1954 and 2004 snapshot of Baltoro GlacierA 1954 (left) and 2004 (right) snapshot of the snout of Baltoro Glacier shows a diminished surface level, even as the 2004 extent appears to have extended further. Photo credit: Ardito Desio; Christoph Mayer
The so-called Karakoram Anomaly does not convince Mayer. “Look at the details,” he added. When Mayer turned to the Baltoro Glacier, his doubts were justified. The lower part of the glacier, the snout, is covered in debris and appears to be climate-resistant with zero retreat, but the clean white top has a melt rate of up to 4.5 meters,