@article{23091,
  abstract     = {Glaciers worldwide are becoming increasingly debris-covered, yet many aspects within the coupled glacier-debris system are not well-understood. While the insulating effect of continuous debris layers is well-known, the transient feedbacks with glacier dynamics are poorly understood. The main aim of this study is to better understand the complex transient glacier response and debris-induced feedbacks through numerical flow modelling. We present an improved flowline model that couples ice flow, depth-resolved debris transport, and debris cover impact on mass balance. This approach allows for a detailed examination of the dynamics of debris-covered glaciers under transient forcing conditions of climate and debris input over extended timescales. Our results indicate that low-amplitude, decade-scale variability in debris or climate forcing does not substantially impact glacier evolution. However, large debris supply events can have a sustained impact. We find that debris-covered glacier response to warming climate forcing is non-monotonic, with distinct phases of thinning, retreat, and long-term re-advance. We attribute this to a separate, longer timescale process of englacial debris transport. Additionally, feedbacks in the englacial debris trajectory and complex bed topography further amplify the non-linear pattern of retreat in the transient glacier response to warming.},
  author       = {Hardmeier, Florian and Ferguson, James and Vieli, Andreas},
  issn         = {1994-0424},
  journal      = {The Cryosphere},
  number       = {9},
  pages        = {5365--5392},
  publisher    = {Copernicus Publications},
  title        = {{Feedbacks and timescales in the modelled transient response of debris-covered glaciers}},
  doi          = {10.5194/tc-20-5365-2026},
  volume       = {20},
  year         = {2026},
}