---
DOAJ_listed: '1'
OA_place: publisher
OA_type: gold
PlanS_conform: '1'
_id: '23091'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: 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.
acknowledgement: We thank Evan Miles, Ramachandran Shankar, and Argha Banerjee for
  valuable discussions and inputs on experiment design and analysis. This research
  has been mainly funded by the SNSF (grant no. IZINZ2_209521) within the Indo-Swiss
  joint trilateral SNSF-ICSSR-MoES scheme and the earlier SNSF (grant no. 200021_169775).
article_processing_charge: Yes
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Florian
  full_name: Hardmeier, Florian
  last_name: Hardmeier
- first_name: James
  full_name: Ferguson, James
  id: 05fd8d9b-bd43-11eb-8d36-f8fb1cc98040
  last_name: Ferguson
- first_name: Andreas
  full_name: Vieli, Andreas
  last_name: Vieli
citation:
  ama: Hardmeier F, Ferguson J, Vieli A. Feedbacks and timescales in the modelled
    transient response of debris-covered glaciers. <i>The Cryosphere</i>. 2026;20(9):5365-5392.
    doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-5365-2026">10.5194/tc-20-5365-2026</a>
  apa: Hardmeier, F., Ferguson, J., &#38; Vieli, A. (2026). Feedbacks and timescales
    in the modelled transient response of debris-covered glaciers. <i>The Cryosphere</i>.
    Copernicus Publications. <a href="https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-5365-2026">https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-5365-2026</a>
  chicago: Hardmeier, Florian, James Ferguson, and Andreas Vieli. “Feedbacks and Timescales
    in the Modelled Transient Response of Debris-Covered Glaciers.” <i>The Cryosphere</i>.
    Copernicus Publications, 2026. <a href="https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-5365-2026">https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-5365-2026</a>.
  ieee: F. Hardmeier, J. Ferguson, and A. Vieli, “Feedbacks and timescales in the
    modelled transient response of debris-covered glaciers,” <i>The Cryosphere</i>,
    vol. 20, no. 9. Copernicus Publications, pp. 5365–5392, 2026.
  ista: Hardmeier F, Ferguson J, Vieli A. 2026. Feedbacks and timescales in the modelled
    transient response of debris-covered glaciers. The Cryosphere. 20(9), 5365–5392.
  mla: Hardmeier, Florian, et al. “Feedbacks and Timescales in the Modelled Transient
    Response of Debris-Covered Glaciers.” <i>The Cryosphere</i>, vol. 20, no. 9, Copernicus
    Publications, 2026, pp. 5365–92, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-5365-2026">10.5194/tc-20-5365-2026</a>.
  short: F. Hardmeier, J. Ferguson, A. Vieli, The Cryosphere 20 (2026) 5365–5392.
das_tickbox: '1'
dataavailabilitystatement: 'The model presented in this study as well as the code
  and synthetic data (generated from model runs) are available on Zenodo: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22687411
  (Hardmeier et al., 2026). Two animations, referenced to in the text as Video Supplement
  1 and 2, are available on Zenodo: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22687411 (Hardmeier
  et al., 2026).'
date_created: 2026-10-11T22:02:04Z
date_published: 2026-09-21T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-10-12T09:21:04Z
day: '21'
ddc:
- '550'
- '000'
department:
- _id: TiVo
doi: 10.5194/tc-20-5365-2026
file:
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  creator: dernst
  date_created: 2026-10-12T09:17:51Z
  date_updated: 2026-10-12T09:17:51Z
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file_date_updated: 2026-10-12T09:17:51Z
fulldoi: https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-5365-2026
has_accepted_license: '1'
intvolume: '        20'
issue: '9'
language:
- iso: eng
month: '09'
oa: 1
oa_version: None
page: 5365-5392
publication: The Cryosphere
publication_identifier:
  eissn:
  - 1994-0424
  issn:
  - 1994-0416
publication_status: published
publisher: Copernicus Publications
quality_controlled: '1'
researchdata_availability: yes
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
supplementarymaterial: yes
title: Feedbacks and timescales in the modelled transient response of debris-covered
  glaciers
tmp:
  image: /images/cc_by.png
  legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
  name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
  short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
volume: 20
year: '2026'
...