A dramatic 800-m retreat of a lake-terminating glacier on the Tibetan Plateau during 2014–2015, caused by glacier calving

Compared to land-terminating glaciers, lake-terminating glaciers generally experience a higher mass loss due to the feedback from processes such as calving, dynamic thinning, and flow acceleration associated with proglacial lakes.These processes often result in substantial changes in glacier length.We analyzed the evolution of the Jiongpu Co lake-terminating glacier on the Tibetan Plateau between October 2014 and November 2015, during which the glacier retreated by approximately 800 m.This dramatic retreat of the Jiongpu Co Glacier was mainly caused by calving from March to May 2015, leading to a mean retreat rate of 7.6 m day -1 during this period.The total mass loss of the glacier during the study period was 0.150.01Gt, with frontal ablation accounting for 749% of this loss.Our findings highlight that the rapid calving event of the Jiongpu Co Glacier during 2014-2015 was likely associated with both accelerated velocity and a reduction in ice thickness above the flotation height at the terminus, which together enhanced frontal ablation and contributed to the observed rapid retreat.