The Cryosphere, 6, 1251–1262, 2012 www.the-cryosphere.net/6/1251/2012/ The Cryosphere doi:10.5194/tc-6-1251-2012 © Author(s) 2012. CC Attribution 3.0 License. Surge dynamics on Bering Glacier, Alaska, in 2008–2011 E. W. Burgess1, R. R. Forster1, C. F. Larsen2, and M. Braun3 1Department of Geography, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA 2Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA 3Department of Geography, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany Correspondence to: E. W. Burgess (
[email protected]) Received: 21 February 2012 – Published in The Cryosphere Discuss.: 21 March 2012 Revised: 10 October 2012 – Accepted: 12 October 2012 – Published: 7 November 2012 Abstract. A surge cycle of the Bering Glacier system, exhibit flow speeds 10–100 times quiescent flow; they are Alaska, is examined using observations of surface veloc- relatively short, lasting from months to years, and can initi- ity obtained using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) offset ate and terminate rapidly (Cuffey and Paterson, 2010). The tracking, and elevation data obtained from the University quiescent phase lasts decades, over which the glacier devel- of Alaska Fairbanks LiDAR altimetry program. After 13 yr ops a steeper geometry that triggers another surge event. The of quiescence, the Bering Glacier system began to surge in time required for the glacier geometry to steepen during qui- May 2008 and had two stages of accelerated flow. During escence dictates the duration of the quiescent phase and the the first stage, flow accelerated progressively for at least 10 surge cycle overall (Meier and Post, 1969; Raymond, 1987; months and reached peak observed velocities of ∼ 7 m d−1.