Furtwängler Glacier
Furtwangler Glacier is located near the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. The glacier is named after Walter Furtwängler [de] who, with Siegfried König, formed the fourth party to ascend to the summit of Kilimanjaro in 1912.[1]
The glacier is a small remnant of an ice cap that once crowned the summit of Kilimanjaro. Almost 85 percent of the ice cover disappeared from October 1912 to June 2011.[2] In 2013 it was estimated that at the then-current rate, most of the ice would disappear by 2040 and "it is highly unlikely that any ice body will remain after 2060".[2]
Furtwängler Glacier is ephemeral, existing continuously only since about 1650 CE, which corresponds with very high levels in Kenya's Lake Naivasha and the beginning of the Maunder Minimum.[3] Between measurements in 1976 and 2000, the area of this glacier was cut almost in half, from 113,000 square metres (1,220,000 sq ft) to 60,000 m2 (650,000 sq ft).[4] By 2018 the size had shrunk to 11,000 m2 (120,000 sq ft). In 2022 it was thought that the glacier would cease to exist by 2023 at a rate of loss of 2,524 m2 (27,170 sq ft) per year.[5]
During fieldwork conducted early in 2006, scientists discovered a large hole near the center of the glacier. This hole, extending through the 6 metres (20 feet) remaining thickness of the glacier to the underlying rock, split the glacier in two by 2007.[4]
See also
- Retreat of glaciers since 1850
- List of glaciers
References
- ^ Stedman, Henry. "History of Kilimanjaro: After Meyer". Excerpt from "Kilimanjaro". Climb Mount Kilimanjaro. Archived from the original on 2008-09-08. Retrieved 2007-05-03.
- ^ a b Cullen, N. J.; Sirguey, P.; Mölg, T.; Kaser, G.; Winkler, M.; Fitzsimons, S. J. (4 March 2013). "A century of ice retreat on Kilimanjaro: the mapping reloaded" (PDF). The Cryosphere. 7 (2). Copernicus GmbH: 419–431. Bibcode:2013TCry....7..419C. doi:10.5194/tc-7-419-2013. ISSN 1994-0424.
- ^ Thompson, L. G.; Davis, M. E. (2013). "Ice Core Records - Africa" (PDF). The Ohio State University.
- ^ a b Thompson, Lonnie G.; et al. (October 2002). "Kilimanjaro Ice Core Records: Evidence of Holocene Climate Change in Tropical Africa" (PDF). Science. 298 (5593): 589–593. Bibcode:2002Sci...298..589T. doi:10.1126/science.1073198. PMID 12386332. S2CID 32880316. Retrieved 2006-08-31.
- ^ "Furtwängler Gletscher – Das Mount Kilimanjaro Wiki". Die Mount Kilimanjaro Info-Map (in German). Retrieved 10 December 2022.
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