Widespread Acceleration of Tidewater Glaciers on the Antarctic Peninsula

2014 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
H. D. Pritchard ◽  
D. G. Vaughan
Keyword(s):  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Tidewater Glaciers ◽  
The Antarctic

High-concentration sediment plumes, Horseshoe Island, western Antarctic Peninsula

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
CRISTIAN RODRIGO ◽  
ANDRÉS VARAS-GÓMEZ ◽  
ADRIÁN BUSTAMANTE-MAINO ◽  
EMILIO MENA-HODGES
Keyword(s):  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Short Note ◽  
Sediment Concentration ◽  
Change Scenario ◽  
High Concentration ◽  
Tidewater Glaciers ◽  
Marguerite Bay ◽  
Southern Side ◽  
Reported Data ◽  
The Antarctic

The variability in sediment concentration and spatial distribution of meltwater discharges from tidewater glaciers can be used to elucidate climatic evolution and glacier behaviour due to the association between sediment yield and glacier retreat (e.g. Domack & McClennen 1996). In an accelerated deglaciation environment, higher sediment concentrations in the water column can change the glacimarine costal dynamics and affect productivity and sea floor ecosystems (e.g. Marín et al. 2013). In the Antarctic Peninsula Region, meltwater or turbid plumes were previously believed to be rare or without an important role in the sedimentary glacimarine environment (e.g. Griffith & Anderson 1989), but recent studies have shown that this is a common phenomenon in subpolar and transition polar climates (Yoo et al. 2015, Rodrigo et al. 2016). In the current climate change scenario, accelerated glacier retreats and mass losses can produce an increasing input of glacial meltwater into the fjord regions, a situation that is not yet well evaluated in the Antarctic Peninsula. In this short note, after in situ observation of an unusual waterfall from the southern side of the main western tidewater glacier (Shoesmith Glacier) of Horseshoe Island (Lystad Bay), Marguerite Bay (Fig. 1), we report high turbidity values associated with plumes from the glacier, whose values were higher than reported data from subpolar/transition polar Antarctic climates.

scholarly journals From ice-shelf tributary to tidewater glacier: continued rapid recession, acceleration and thinning of Röhss Glacier following the 1995 collapse of the Prince Gustav Ice Shelf, Antarctic Peninsula

2011 ◽  
Vol 57 (203) ◽  
pp. 397-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
N.F. Glasser ◽  
T.A. Scambos ◽  
J. Bohlander ◽  
M. Truffer ◽  
E. Pettit ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Satellite Image ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Tidewater Glaciers ◽  
Speed Increase ◽  
Glacier System ◽  
Digital Elevation ◽  
Tidewater Glacier ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Antarctic

AbstractWe use optical (ASTER and Landsat) and radar (ERS-1 and ERS-2) satellite imagery to document changes in the Prince Gustav Ice Shelf, Antarctic Peninsula, and its tributary glaciers before and after its January 1995 collapse. The satellite image record captures the transition from an ice-shelf glacier system to a tidewater glacial system and the subsequent rapid retreat and inferred ‘fatal’ negative mass balances that occur as lower glacier elevations lead to higher ablation and tidewater-style calving collapse. Pre-1995 images show that the central ice shelf was fed primarily by Sjögren Glacier flowing from the Antarctic Peninsula and by Röhss Glacier flowing from James Ross Island. Numerous structural discontinuities (rifts and crevasses) and melt ponds were present on the ice shelf before the collapse. After the ice shelf collapsed, Röhss Glacier retreated rapidly, becoming a tidewater glacier in 2002 and receding a total of ∼15 km between January 2001 and March 2009, losing >70% of its area. Topographic profiles of Röhss Glacier from ASTER-derived digital elevation models show a thinning of up to ∼150 m, and surface speeds increased up to ninefold (0.1–0.9 m d−1) over the same period. The rates of speed increase and elevation loss, however, are not monotonic; both rates slowed between late 2002 and 2005, accelerated in 2006 and slowed again in 2008–09. We conclude that tributary glaciers react to ice-shelf removal by rapid (if discontinuous) recession, and that the response of tidewater glaciers on the Antarctic Peninsula to ice-shelf removal occurs over timescales ranging from sub-annual to decadal.

scholarly journals A new glacier inventory for 2009 reveals spatial and temporal variability in glacier response to atmospheric warming in the Northern Antarctic Peninsula, 1988–2009

2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 3541-3595 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. J. Davies ◽  
J. L. Carrivick ◽  
N. F. Glasser ◽  
M. J. Hambrey ◽  
J. L. Smellie
Keyword(s):  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Slope Aspect ◽  
Published Data ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Tidewater Glaciers ◽  
Eastern Side ◽  
Glacier Recession ◽  
Recession Rates ◽  
James Ross Island ◽  
The Antarctic

Abstract. The Northern Antarctic Peninsula has recently exhibited ice-shelf disintegration, glacier recession and acceleration. However, the dynamic response of land-terminating, ice-shelf tributary and tidewater glaciers has not yet been quantified or assessed for variability, and there are sparse published data for glacier classification, morphology, area, length or altitude. This paper firstly uses ASTER images from 2009 and a SPIRIT DEM from 2006 to classify the area, length, altitude, slope, aspect, geomorphology, type and hypsometry of 194 glaciers on Trinity Peninsula, Vega Island and James Ross Island. Secondly, this paper uses LANDSAT-4 and ASTER images from 1988 and 2001 and data from the Antarctic Digital Database (ADD) from 1997 to document glacier change 1988–2009. From 1988–2001, 90 % of glaciers receded, and from 2001–2009, 79 % receded. Glaciers on the western side of Trinity Peninsula retreated relatively little. On the eastern side of Trinity Peninsula, the rate of recession of ice-shelf tributary glaciers has slowed from 12.9 km2 a−1 (1988–2001) to 2.4 km2 a−1 (2001–2009). Tidewater glaciers on the drier, cooler Eastern Trinity Peninsula experienced fastest recession from 1988–2001, with limited frontal retreat after 2001. Land-terminating glaciers on James Ross Island also retreated fastest in the period 1988–2001. Large tidewater glaciers on James Ross Island are now declining in areal extent at rates of up to 0.04 km2 a−1. This east-west difference is largely a result of orographic temperature and precipitation gradients across the Antarctic Peninsula. Strong variability in tidewater glacier recession rates may result from the influence of glacier length, altitude, slope and hypsometry on glacier mass balance. High snowfall means that the glaciers on the Western Peninsula are not currently rapidly receding. Recession rates on the eastern side of Trinity Peninsula are slowing as the floating ice tongues retreat into the fjords and the glaciers reach a new dynamic equilibrium. The rapid glacier recession of tidewater glaciers on James Ross Island is likely to continue because of their low elevations and flat profiles. In contrast, the higher and steeper tidewater glaciers on the Eastern Antarctic Peninsula will attain more stable frontal positions after low-lying ablation areas are removed.

scholarly journals VARIATIONS IN SURFACE VELOCITIES OF TIDEWATER GLACIERS OF THE ANTARCTIC PENINSULA BETWEEN THE PERIODS 1988-1991 AND 2000-2003

2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aline B. Silva ◽  
Jorge Arigony Neto ◽  
Cláudio W. Mendes Júnior ◽  
Adriano G. Lemos
Keyword(s):  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Landsat Tm ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Mean Velocity ◽  
Ice Flow ◽  
Tidewater Glaciers ◽  
Marguerite Bay ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Glacier Velocity ◽  
The Antarctic

ABSTRACT. In the Antarctic Peninsula, recent events of glacier retreat, disintegration and break-up of ice shelves indicated that ice masses in this region are reactingrapidly to the increasing trend in oceanic and surface air temperatures. This study aimed to define variations in ice flow velocity of tidewater glaciers between theperiods of 1988-1991 and 2000-2003, in northeastern, northwestern and midwestern Marguerite Bay and Larsen C ice shelf sectors. Glacier velocities were estimatedby the application of a cross-correlation algorithm of IMCORR software in multitemporal LANDSAT TM/ETM+ images. Moreover, we used monthly mean oceanic andair temperature data from OCCAM and ERA-Interim models, respectively. Ice flow velocities on the northeastern sector was 0.24 ± 0.12 md–1 in the period 1988-1991, while in 2000-2002 it was 0.06 ± 0.02 md–1. In the northwestern part of the peninsula, the mean glacier velocity was 0.10 ± 0.005 md–1 between 1989 and1990, and 0.22 ± 0.13 md–1 between 2000 and 2001. In the Midwestern sector, the mean velocity of glaciers was 1.06 ± 0.86 md–1 in the period 1989-1991, and0.84 ± 0.78 md–1 in the period 2000-2001. In Marguerite Bay, the velocity was 1.28 ± 0.77 md–1 in the period 1988-1989, characterized by temperatures near0◦C in the Bellingshausen Sea, while in the period 2000-2001, with mean ocean temperatures close to –2◦C, the mean glacier velocity was significantly lower, of0.23± 0.12 md–1. Finally, in Larsen C ice shelf, the mean velocity ranged from 0.80± 0.20 md–1, between 1988 and 1989, to 0.15 ±0.10 md–1, between 2000 and2003. The higher speed of flow of tidewater glaciers between 1988 and 1991 occurred in a period when the mean surface air and sea temperatures also were higher.Keywords: Antarctic Peninsula, remote sensing, glacier dynamics. RESUMO. Na Península Antártica, recentes eventos de retração de frentes de geleiras, desintegração e fragmentação de plataformas de gelo indicam que asmassas de gelo dessa região estão reagindo rapidamente à tendência de aumento nas temperaturas oceânicas e do ar superficial. O objetivo deste estudo foi determinarvariações na velocidade superficial de fluxo de geleiras de maré dessa península entre os períodos 1988-1991 e 2000-2003, nos setores nordeste, noroeste,centro-oeste, baía Marguerite e plataforma de gelo Larsen C. Essas variações foram estimadas pela aplicação do algoritmo de correlação cruzada do programaIMCORR em imagens multitemporais LANDSAT TM/ETM+. Além disso, foram utilizados dados de temperatura média mensal oceânica e do ar superficial dosmodelos OCCAM e ERA-Interim, respectivamente. No setor nordeste a velocidade média das geleiras foi de 0,24 ± 0,12 md–1 no período 1988-1991, e em2000-2002 foi de 0,06 ± 0,02 md–1. No setor noroeste a velocidade de fluxo encontrada foi de 0,10 ± 0,005 md–1, entre 1989 e 1990, e de 0,22 ± 0,13 md–1,entre 2000 e 2001. No setor centro-oeste, a velocidade foi de 1,06 ± 0,86 md–1 entre 1989 e 1991, e de 0,84 ± 0,78 md–1 entre 2000 e 2001. Na Baía Marguerite,a velocidade superficial das geleiras foi de 1,28 ± 0,77 md–1 no período 1988-1989, com temperaturas médias próximas a 0◦C no mar de Bellingshausen, enquantoque no período 2000-2001, com temperaturas médias próximas a -2◦C foi estimada uma velocidade média de 0,23±0,12 md–1. Nas geleiras tributárias da plataformade gelo Larsen C, a velocidade oscilou de 0,80 ± 0,20 md–1, em 1988-1989, para 0,15 ± 0,10 md–1, em 2000-2003. A maior velocidade de fluxo das geleirasde maré entre 1988 a 1991 ocorreu em um período em que as médias de temperatura do ar superficial e oceânica também estavam mais elevadas.Palavras-chave: Península Antártica, sensoriamento remoto, dinâmica glacial.

scholarly journals Open ocean and coastal new particle formation from sulfuric acid and amines around the Antarctic Peninsula

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Brean ◽  
Manuel Dall’Osto ◽  
Rafel Simó ◽  
Zongbo Shi ◽  
David C. S. Beddows ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sulfuric Acid ◽  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Particle Formation ◽  
Open Ocean ◽  
New Particle Formation ◽  
The Antarctic

scholarly journals Mass balance of the Antarctic ice sheet 1992–2016: reconciling results from GRACE gravimetry with ICESat, ERS1/2 and Envisat altimetry

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
H. Jay Zwally ◽  
John W. Robbins ◽  
Scott B. Luthcke ◽  
Bryant D. Loomis ◽  
Frédérique Rémy
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Mantle Material ◽  
West Antarctica ◽  
Mantle Viscosity ◽  
Grounding Line ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Total Gain

Abstract GRACE and ICESat Antarctic mass-balance differences are resolved utilizing their dependencies on corrections for changes in mass and volume of the same underlying mantle material forced by ice-loading changes. Modeled gravimetry corrections are 5.22 times altimetry corrections over East Antarctica (EA) and 4.51 times over West Antarctica (WA), with inferred mantle densities 4.75 and 4.11 g cm−3. Derived sensitivities (Sg, Sa) to bedrock motion enable calculation of motion (δB0) needed to equalize GRACE and ICESat mass changes during 2003–08. For EA, δB0 is −2.2 mm a−1 subsidence with mass matching at 150 Gt a−1, inland WA is −3.5 mm a−1 at 66 Gt a−1, and coastal WA is only −0.35 mm a−1 at −95 Gt a−1. WA subsidence is attributed to low mantle viscosity with faster responses to post-LGM deglaciation and to ice growth during Holocene grounding-line readvance. EA subsidence is attributed to Holocene dynamic thickening. With Antarctic Peninsula loss of −26 Gt a−1, the Antarctic total gain is 95 ± 25 Gt a−1 during 2003–08, compared to 144 ± 61 Gt a−1 from ERS1/2 during 1992–2001. Beginning in 2009, large increases in coastal WA dynamic losses overcame long-term EA and inland WA gains bringing Antarctica close to balance at −12 ± 64 Gt a−1 by 2012–16.

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