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 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 Recent dynamic changes on Fleming Glacier after the disintegration of Wordie Ice Shelf, Antarctic Peninsula

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1347-1365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Friedl ◽  
Thorsten C. Seehaus ◽  
Anja Wendt ◽  
Matthias H. Braun ◽  
Kathrin Höppner
Keyword(s):  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Glacier Tongue ◽  
Marguerite Bay ◽  
Grounding Line ◽  
Continuous Dynamic ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Antarctic

Abstract. The Antarctic Peninsula is one of the world's regions most affected by climate change. Several ice shelves have retreated, thinned or completely disintegrated during recent decades, leading to acceleration and increased calving of their tributary glaciers. Wordie Ice Shelf, located in Marguerite Bay at the south-western side of the Antarctic Peninsula, completely disintegrated in a series of events between the 1960s and the late 1990s. We investigate the long-term dynamics (1994–2016) of Fleming Glacier after the disintegration of Wordie Ice Shelf by analysing various multi-sensor remote sensing data sets. We present a dense time series of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) surface velocities that reveals a rapid acceleration of Fleming Glacier in 2008 and a phase of further gradual acceleration and upstream propagation of high velocities in 2010–2011.The timing in acceleration correlates with strong upwelling events of warm circumpolar deep water (CDW) into Wordie Bay, most likely leading to increased submarine melt. This, together with continuous dynamic thinning and a deep subglacial trough with a retrograde bed slope close to the terminus probably, has induced unpinning of the glacier tongue in 2008 and gradual grounding line retreat between 2010 and 2011. Our data suggest that the glacier's grounding line had retreated by ∼ 6–9 km between 1996 and 2011, which caused ∼ 56 km2 of the glacier tongue to go afloat. The resulting reduction in buttressing explains a median speedup of ∼ 1.3 m d−1 (∼ 27 %) between 2008 and 2011, which we observed along a centre line extending between the grounding line in 1996 and ∼ 16 km upstream. Current median ice thinning rates (2011–2014) along profiles in areas below 1000 m altitude range between ∼ 2.6 to 3.2 m a−1 and are ∼ 70 % higher than between 2004 and 2008. Our study shows that Fleming Glacier is far away from approaching a new equilibrium and that the glacier dynamics are not primarily controlled by the loss of the former ice shelf anymore. Currently, the tongue of Fleming Glacier is grounded in a zone of bedrock elevation between ∼ −400 and −500 m. However, about 3–4 km upstream modelled bedrock topography indicates a retrograde bed which transitions into a deep trough of up to ∼ −1100 m at ∼ 10 km upstream. Hence, this endangers upstream ice masses, which can significantly increase the contribution of Fleming Glacier to sea level rise in the future.

Aerial dispersal of springtails on the Antarctic Peninsula: implications for local distribution and demography

2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.C. Hawes ◽  
M.R. Worland ◽  
P. Convey ◽  
J.S. Bale
Keyword(s):  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Potential Mechanism ◽  
Local Distribution ◽  
Aerial Dispersal ◽  
Wind Speeds ◽  
Terrestrial Arthropods ◽  
Marguerite Bay ◽  
Terrestrial Habitats ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Aerial Deposition

Aerial dispersal has been frequently proposed as a potential mechanism by which polar terrestrial arthropods are transported to, and settle the ice free habitats of Antarctica, but to date there has been little substantive evidence in support of this hypothesis. Using water traps we investigated aerial deposition of arthropods on Lagoon Island, Ryder Bay, on the Antarctic Peninsula. Over a period of five weeks, trapping at three different altitudes, we captured a total of nine springtails, Cryptopygus antarcticus, all alive. This is the first study to demonstrate conclusively the survival of wind-borne native arthropods within Antarctica. By scaling the modest trapping area and success against island surface area, it is clear that hundreds, if not thousands, of springtails are regularly relocated by winds between the terrestrial habitats of Marguerite Bay. We use known desiccation rates of C. antarcticus and wind speeds to predict the likelihood of successful dispersal between the principal terrestrial habitats of the larger Marguerite Bay. Implications for local and long-range dispersal are discussed in relation to C. antarcticus and other polar arthropods.

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 Juvenile morphology of the large Antarctic canopy-forming brown alga, Desmarestia menziesii J. Agardh

Polar Biology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (11) ◽  
pp. 2097-2103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frithjof C. Küpper ◽  
Charles D. Amsler ◽  
Simon Morley ◽  
Bruno de Reviers ◽  
Aurelia Reichardt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Life Form ◽  
Research Station ◽  
Polar Regions ◽  
Marguerite Bay ◽  
Open Questions ◽  
Natural Range ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Adelaide Island ◽  
Desmarestia Menziesii

Abstract For many types of seaweeds in Polar Regions, open questions remain about how their life cycle contributes to their overall adaptation to the extreme abiotic environment. This applies in particular to the major canopy-forming brown algae in much of the Antarctic Peninsula of the genus Desmarestia, which was investigated here. Diving surveys around Rothera Research Station (Adelaide Island, Antarctica) during December 2017–February 2018 revealed the widespread presence of a hitherto-unknown life form of Desmarestia sp. of a tender, feather-like morphology. Further studies explored whether this could be (1) a new, hitherto undescribed Desmarestia species (2) a new record for the region of a known Desmarestia species previously recorded elsewhere or (3) a so-far unknown life form of a species recorded for the region. Collections enabled the extraction of PCR-friendly DNA and sequencing of ITS1, which unambiguously showed that the samples belonged to Desmarestia menziesii, the only Desmarestia species presently recorded for the Adelaide Island/Marguerite Bay region. The presence of the juvenile morphology was subsequently confirmed throughout much of the natural range of D. menziesii during cruise-based diving surveys along the Western Antarctic Peninsula in 2019 and from collections at Anvers Island in 1989. Our collections thus constitute its juvenile morphology, which is not previously documented in the literature. The wider significance for the Polar seaweeds is discussed in the context of Taxonomy and Ecology.

Short Note: Second Jurassic marine reptile from the Antarctic Peninsula

2008 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel C.H. Hikuroa
Keyword(s):  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Short Note ◽  
Marine Reptiles ◽  
Neuquen Basin ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Neuquén Basin ◽  
Marine Reptile ◽  
The Antarctic

Except for the rich record from the Neuquen Basin (e.g. Gasparini & Fernández 2006), Jurassic southern Gondwanan marine reptiles are relatively rare. A tooth discovered in the Bean Peaks, Ellsworth Land, Antarctic Peninsula (Fig. 1) represents the southernmost, and only the second record of Jurassic marine reptiles from the Antarctic Peninsula. Comprising a single, incomplete tooth, the specimen is unable to be assigned to a species, but the paucity of Gondwanan Jurassic marine reptile material means this find adds significant palaeobiogeographical information.

scholarly journals Climate-change indicators from archival aerial photography of the Antarctic Peninsula

1998 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 636-642 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.J. Fox ◽  
A. P. R. Cooper
Keyword(s):  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Aerial Photography ◽  
Ice Cover ◽  
Aerial Survey ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Ice Shelves ◽  
Bay Area ◽  
Mapping Tool ◽  
Marguerite Bay ◽  
The Antarctic

Aerial photography has been used as a mapping tool in the Antarctic Peninsula region sinre the late 1920s. Following pioneering work by Wilkins in 1928, Ellsworth in 1934 and the British Graham Land Expedition in 1934-37, the Falkland Islands and Dependencies Aerial Survey Expedition carried out extensive aerial photography during the period 1955-57. Since then, many other aerial surveys have been carried out, and the result is an archive of aerial photography that, for some localities, spans 40 years. The production of maps both from different generations of photographs and satellite images has revealed many changes in the extent of ice cover with time. For example, changes in ice shelves such as the Wordie Ice Shelf, Larsen Ice Shelf and Müller Ice Shelf, are well recorded, and the termini of some glaciers have retreated. However, the most pervasive change is the consistent decline in the extent of small bodies of snow and ice. This paper shows how perennial snow or ice cover has decreased in the northern Marguerite Bay area, at 68°S. The correlation of the change with elevation and with climate records from Adelaide and Rothera research stations in the Antarctic Peninsula region is examined.

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.

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