Estimating the impact of changes in mass balance on variations in glacier area and snout fluctuations in Western Himalayas, J&K, India

All glaciers respond to signals of climate change either by decreasing or increasing their total mass; changes in mass eventually reflect in the changes of the glacier area and the position of the glacier terminus i.e. in its retreat or advancement. In the present study, an attempt was made to estimate the mass balance of six selected glaciers in the Zanskar Valley, Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, India over a continous period from 2000 to 2010. It was revealed that except for year 2000, 2001, 2004 and 2008 when the glaciers experienced a negative mass balance, the glaciers have gained in mass and mass lost is marginal as compared to the mass gained which was substantial. The area of the glaciers reduced over the decade but the changes were negligible ranging between 0.78 sq. km. to 0.25 sq. Fluctuations in mass showed no profound effect on retreat/advancement behaviour of the glacier snout.