deming glacier melt – From a Glaciers Perspective

Deming Glacier velocity from NASA MEaSUREs ITS_Live at four locations from below icefall at blue X to above icefall at red X. There is not a significant change in velocity above the icefall (red X), but significant deceleration in the icefall and below the icefall.

The Deming Glacier drains the southwest side of the summit of Mount Baker a stratovolcano in the North Cascades of Washington, with a massive icefall feeding the lower valley terminus reach of the glacier. The icefall begins at 2200 meters and descends to 1600 meters. The glacier feeds the Middle Fork Nooksack River which provides water supply to Bellingham, WA. I first observed the Deming Icefall from the terminus area of the glacier in 1987. This visit demonstrated that it is not safe to hike to the terminus of this glacier. In 1990 we began annual observation of Deming Glacier. Each summer we monitor the adjacent Easton Glacier in detail including mass balance, while also taking several specific observations of Deming Glacier including terminus position, and accumulation between 2400-2700 m. This combined with mass balance assessment on Easton Glacier provides an annual assessment of the meltwater provided by the glacier to the Nooksack River system. During heatwaves the tributaries of the Nooksack fed by glaciers have had the impacts mitigated, while those without glaciers have seen significant temperature increase and discharge decrease (Pelto et al 2022).

Pelto and Brown (2012) identified a mean annual mass balance loss of -0.52 m/year from 1990-2010 on Mount Baker glaciers. From 2013-2021 the mass loss had more than doubled to -1.30 m/year. The declining mass balance is less pronounced above the icefall. The icefall transitions the glacier from the accumulation zone to the ablation (melt) zone at the bottom of the icefall. Above the icefall at 2400-2700 meters the average snow depth left at the end of the summer based on several thousand crevasse stratigraphy measurements from 1990-2013 had been 2.75 meters, from 2014-2021 the average depth has been 2.4 m.

The result of the declining mass balance of the entire glacier and the upper glacier will be glacier deceleration. The NASA Measures ITS_LIVE application uses feature tracking to determine glacier velocity. An examination of velocity change from the top of the icefall to the bottom on Deming Glacier from 2015-2022 indicates deceleration at the three points within or below the icefall, but no change at the top of the icefall. At the top of the icefall red X velocity has declined ~20%. In the middle of the icefall, green X, velocity has also declined ~20% since 2017. Near the base of the icefall, orange X, velocity has a chaotic signal lacking a clear trend. Below the icefall at the blue X, velocity has declined by ~20-30%. The resulting reduction in flux to the terminus will continue the rapid retreat. Pelto and Brown (2012) measured a 360 m retreat of Deming Glacier from 1979-2009, ~20 m/year. From 1979-2021 the glacier has retreated 725 m, with the rate of retreat from 2009-2021 of ~30 m/year.

View of the Deming Glacier from terminus to top of icefall in 2019. Jill Pelto at left, Abby Hudak and Mauri Pelto at right. X’s mark the velocity locations, Point A ties this to the upper glacier view, red arrow is the 1987 terminus location.

The icefall sweeps around a bedrock with an east and a west arm splitting above and rejoining below the knob.

The Deming Glacier from the top of the icefall to the summit of Mount Baker in 2020.

In mid-August 2022 snowpack was particularly low right to the top of Deming Glacier. Comparison with 2020 which was an average year for the last decade, but still a significant mass balance loss.

Terminus of Deming Glacier in 2004 and 2019 illustrating the ongoing retreat of the terminus, 725 m from 1979-2021.

Jill Pelto measuring Crevasse depth and snowpack thickness in Crevasse at 2500 m on Deming Glacier.

This is the first of two posts focusing on Deming Glacier and will focus on the Deming Glacier Icefall, the next on the Deming Glacier terminus. The glacier drains from the southwest side of the summit of Mount Baker a stratovolcano in the North Cascades of Washington, with a massive icefall feeding the lower valley terminus reach of the glacier.The icefall begins at 2200 meters and descends to 1600 meters. The glacier feeds the Middle Fork Nooksack River which provides some of the water supply for Bellingham, WA. I first observed the Deming Icefall from the terminus area of the glacier in 1987. This visit demonstrated that it is not safe to hike to the terminus of this glacier each year. In 1990 we began annual observation of Deming Glacier. Each summer we monitor the adjacent Easton Glacier in detail as the surrogate for Deming Glacier, which is dangerous and difficult to work on. Annual observation of the change in areal extent of the Deming Glacier with elevation combined with mass balance assessment on Easton Glacier provides an annual assessment of the meltwater provided by the glacier to the Nooksack River system. The glacier advanced from 1950-1980, and has retreated since 1980. The icefall transitions the glacier from the accumulation zone to the ablation (melt) zone at the bottom of the icefall. Above the icefall at 2400-3000 meters the average snow depth left at the end of the summer based on several thousand crevasse stratigraphy measurments is 2.75 meters. The icefall sweeps around a bedrock with an east and a west arm splitting above and rejoining below the knob. In particular the east arm has experienced significant reduction in width and velocity.The sequence below starts with an Austin Post photograph from 1979, that illustrates the east arm, the west arm is hidden. The east arm has the same width descending the step of the icefall. This is followed by the icefall in 1988, the red arrow indicates a rib that begins to extend across the east arm as the glacier thins.
The rib continues to extend across the east arm as noted from our observations of the glacier from an observation point adjacent to the icefall. Views from this location from 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2011 are shown in that order below. .
The next sequence examines the change in the icefall from Google Earth annotated imagery. The sequence begins with the 1984 map, the east arm is a nearly uniform 400 m in width. The sequence continues with 1993 and 2009. The red path is from 1993, and the blue path from 2009. In 1984 there is no bedrock rib, by 1993 it has begun to form but extends only 75 meters, by 2009 it extends 150 meters and by 2011 175 meters across the east arm. The width of the east arm has been reduced from 400 meters to 150 meters from 1984-2011. The sequence also indicates the lateral reduction in width after the two glaciers join at the base of the icefall from 1984 to 2009. In 1984 the glacier was 425 meters wide and in 2009 is 225 meters wide.