Northern Ice Field
| Northern Ice Field | ||
|---|---|---|
 Northern Ice Field |
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| location | Tanzania | |
| Mountains | Kilimanjaro | |
| Type | Mountain glacier / ice cap | |
| Ice volume | Ice volume is stagnating or declining | |
| Coordinates | 3 ° 3 ′ S , 37 ° 21 ′ E | |
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The Northern Ice Field ( German Northern Ice Field ) is located near the Kilimanjaro -Gipfels in Tanzania on the western slopes of the peak.
historical development
The Northern Ice Field and the Eastern Ice Fields were connected to the Southern Ice Field and formed part of a continuous glacial ice mass at the tip of Kilimanjaro when the first scientific investigations were carried out in 1912. By 1962, the southern ice field separated from the northern ice field. By 1975 the Eastern Ice Field also separated. In 1912 the total amount of glacier-covered areas on Kilimanjaro was 11.40 square kilometers; however, this was reduced to just 1.76 square kilometers by 2011, a loss of 85%. The ice once flowed from the Northern Ice Field and fed numerous glaciers including, from north to south, the Credner, Drygalski, Great Penck and Little Penck Glaciers.
With an area of 0.95 square kilometers, the Northern Ice Field was the largest remaining ice surface on Kilimanjaro (as of 2007). During the exceptionally cold period known as the Younger Dryas Period, Kilimanjaro may have been ice-free. Although conditions during the Younger Dryas were cold enough to contain ice, it was also exceptionally dry; so much so that the region around Kilimanjaro was a semi-desert. Ice core samples taken from the Northern Ice Field only date back to the end of the Younger Dryas Period and have been dated 11,500 years ago. Dust deposits in the ice core samples are consistent with periods of suspected warming, such as the Medieval Warm Period (1000–1270 AD). The ice cores also reveal that the Northern Ice Field and other glacier-covered areas on Mount Kilimanjaro probably expanded during the Little Ice Age (1270–1850 AD). However, this was not only a consequence of the cooling temperatures, but also of a more humid climate. Ice cores drilled in the Northern Ice Field in 2000 went through the glacier into the rock; a total distance of just over 50 meters.
Current status
The current state of glacier retreat on Kilimanjaro is attributed to conditions that are both warmer and drier than they were during the Little Ice Age. Tropical glaciers tend to be more affected by moisture than those found in mid-latitudes or in polar zones. Because of the higher amount of thermal radiation in the tropical zones, drier conditions can lead to higher percentage glacier losses, although the majority of the glacier retreat is primarily attributed to global warming.
Forecasts
This withdrawal pattern is unlikely to change. Most, if not all, of the ice on Kilimanjaro may have disappeared by 2040. It was not until 1984 that the Northern Ice Field developed a hole near its center, which opened into a canyon by 2003, exposing rocks for the first time in 11,000 years. By 2011, the Northern Ice Field broke in half. The decline does not only run along the seams. In the short period between 2000 and 2007 alone, the Northern Ice Field thinned by an average of 1.9 meters.