[A-CC32] Glaciology

[ACC32-P07] Observation of ice thickness, glacier flow and mass balance in glaciers and perennial snow patches in the northern Japanese Alps.

*Yukako Takehana¹, Chiyuki Narama¹, Kenshiro Arie², Hirotaka Sugiyama¹ (1.Niigata University, 2.JAXA)

Keywords:Glacier, Ice thickness, Glacier flow, Mass balance

Nine glaciers have been identified so far in the northern Japanese Alps (Fukui et al., 2018, Arie et al., 2025, etc.). Unlike glacier distribution areas worldwide, these glaciers are sustained in a warm mid-latitude environment at approximately 2000 m elevation. Understanding their distribution and mass balance characteristics is crucial for clarifying the environmental conditions that enable glaciers to persist amid future climate change. Arie et al. (2022) calculated the annual mass balance, winter snow depth, and summer snowmelt depth for five glaciers in the northern Japanese Alps from 2015 to 2019 and reported that the mass balance is primarily influenced by winter snow depth. However, at least 30 years of observation is considered necessary to assess permanent changes in mass balance (Omura, 2010), highlighting the need for longer-term observations covering multiple glaciers. In this study, we conducted ice thickness and ice flow measurements at the Hakubazawa snow patch in the Ushirotateyama Mountain Range to investigate its potential classification as a glacier. In addition, we calculated the mass balance of eight perennial snow gorges and glaciers in the Tobi Mountain Range from the 1960s to 2024.