East Northwall Firn Explained

East Northwall Firn
Type:Mountain glacier
Location:Puncak Jaya, Sudirman Range, Central Papua province, Indonesia
Coords:-4.0652°N 137.1805°W
Area:1.17km2 in 2002[1]
Length:1.8km (01.1miles)
Terminus:Rockfall
Status:Retreating
Map:New Guinea#Indonesia
Label Position:top
Embedded:
Wikidata:yes
Zoom:14

The East Northwall Firn was a glacier on Mount Carstensz in the Sudirman Range on the island of New Guinea in Central Papua province, Indonesia. Situated at an elevation of approximately NNW of Puncak Jaya, the highest summit in Oceania. It broke up in three patches in or before 2017.[2]

Sometime between 1936 and 1962, a single Northwall Firn split into several separate glaciers, the largest being the East Northwall Firn and the West Northwall Firn. Research presented in 2004 of IKONOS satellite imagery of the New Guinean glaciers indicated that in the two years from 2000 to 2002, the East Northwall Firn had lost a further 4.5% of its surface area.[1] An expedition to the remaining glaciers on Puncak Jaya in 2010 discovered that the ice on the glaciers there is about thick and thinning at a rate of annually. At that rate, the remaining glaciers in the immediate region near Puncak Jaya were expected to last only to the year 2015.[3] [4] Indeed, in or before 2017, the West Northwall Firn had completely disappeared and the eastern Firn had broken up in three small patches.[2]

The East Northwall Firn glaciers are remnants of an icecap that in 1850 measured about 20km2 and had developed approximately 5,000 years ago. At least one previous icecap also existed in the region between 15,000 and 7,000 years ago.[1]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Kincaid. Joni L.. Retreat of the Irian Jaya Glaciers from 2000 to 2002. 61st Eastern Snow Conference. 2011-11-03. Andrew G Klein. 147–157. pdf. 2004. 2017-05-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20170517095529/http://www.easternsnow.org/proceedings/2004/kincaid_and_klein.pdf#search='meren%20glacier'. dead.
  2. Kathryn Hansen, Glaciers in the Tropics, but Not for Long, at NASA Earth Observatory, February 13, 2018
  3. News: McDowell. Robin. Indonesia’s Last Glacier Will Melt ‘Within Years’. 2011-11-03. Jakarta Globe. July 1, 2010.
  4. News: Papua Glacier’s Secrets Dripping Away: Scientists. 2011-11-03. Jakarta Globe. July 2, 2010.