For years, climate change has affected the world in several different ways, but new evidence showed that it can affect a mountain's local climate and structure.
A study made on the St. Elias Mountain Range, led by geologist Eva Enkelmann from the University of Cincinnati, found that a relationship exists between climate change and a mountain's topographic changes and tectonic plate shifts.
These changes can result in accelerated erosion and higher tectonic plate activity capable of moving mountains that took millions of years to form. Movement of tectonic plates, the layer of the earth's crust that is capable of moving or breaking apart, are capable of causing earthquakes and tsunamis that can then result into erosions or the breaking down of solid elevated land masses.
"There are two primary processes that result in the building and eroding of mountains and those processes are interacting," Enkelmann said.
The St. Elias Mountains in North America are being affected by these changes. The researchers noted how the northern part of the range has gone dry, while the southern part has been experiencing very high precipitation, resulting in more erosion in that area.
The research team synthesized data from different sets to demonstrate how rapid erosion and tectonic shifting occurred at the center of the mountain range over 2 million years ago.
At that time, the Earth shifted to a much colder climate that resulted in glacial formations that remain to this day. However, these glaciers are becoming wet-based, which means that the bases (where the glacier ice and the ground meet) of the glaciers are not frozen to the underlying bedrock. The melting of the glacier bases is due to the growing heat and can cause aggressive erosion of land masses around the glaciers.
In the case of the St. Elias Mountains, the eroded material is being moved to the Gulf of Alaska and piling above the Yakutat plate.
An additional concern is the fact that the forces of erosion and increased tectonic plate activity can cause natural disasters for the areas surrounding the affected mountains. Enkelmann cited the Great Alaskan Earthquake that also caused a tsunami as an example.
"Our biggest concern today is the continued potential for earthquakes that can also result in tsunamis," says Enkelmann.
Studying the St. Elias range, she added, will greatly help in increasing the understanding the effects of rapid erosion and increased tectonic activity on mountain climate and structure.
"By going to all of these individual glaciers, we can get a much better understanding of what has happened and what was moved on the entire mountain range," Enkelmann concluded.
The findings of the study were published in the Geophysical Research Letters journal last July and were presented in the 2015 Annual Geological Society of America Meeting held in Baltimore from Nov. 1 to 4.
