The Kaskawulsh Glacier is an iconic outlet draining the icefields of the St. Elias Mountains in Yukon, Canada. We determine and attempt to interpret its catchment-wide mass budget since 2007. Using SPOT5/6/7 data we estimate a 2007–18 geodetic balance of −0.46 ± 0.17 m w.e. a−1. We then compute balance fluxes and observed ice fluxes at nine flux gates to examine the discrepancy between the climatic mass balance and internal mass redistribution by glacier flow. Balance fluxes are computed using a fully distributed mass-balance model driven by downscaled and bias-corrected climate-reanalysis data. Observed fluxes are calculated using NASA ITS_LIVE surface velocities and glacier cross-sectional areas derived from ice-penetrating radar data. We find the glacier is still in the early stages of dynamic adjustment to its mass imbalance. We estimate a committed terminus retreat of ~23 km under the 2007–18 climate and a lower bound of 46 km3 of committed ice loss, equivalent to ~15% of the total glacier volume.

中文翻译：

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不平衡行为：卡斯卡武什冰川对持续质量损失的延迟动态响应

Kaskawulsh 冰川是加拿大育空地区圣埃利亚斯山脉冰原的标志性出口。我们确定并尝试解释其自 2007 年以来的全流域质量预算。使用 SPOT5/6/7 数据，我们估计 2007-18 年的大地平衡为 -0.46 ± 0.17 m-1. 然后，我们计算了九个通量门的平衡通量和观察到的冰通量，以检查气候质量平衡与冰川流动造成的内部质量再分配之间的差异。平衡通量是使用由缩小和偏差校正的气候再分析数据驱动的完全分布的质量平衡模型计算的。观测到的通量是使用 NASA ITS_LIVE 表面速度和从冰穿透雷达数据得出的冰川横截面积计算的。我们发现冰川仍处于动态调整其质量不平衡的早期阶段。我们估计，在 2007-18 年气候下，承诺的终点撤退约为 23 公里，下限为 46 公里3承诺的冰损失，相当于冰川总体积的约 15%。