Implications of the break-up of Wordie Ice Shelf, Antarctica for sea level

1993 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 403-408 ◽  
Author(s):  
David G. Vaughan
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Complete Removal ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Ice Shelves ◽  
Mountain Glaciers ◽  
West Antarctic ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Break Up ◽  
The Antarctic

Temperature records in the Antarctic Peninsula have shown a climatic warming of 1.5°C over the past 30 years and a number of ice shelves have retreated. The most dramatic retreat has been that of Wordie Ice Shelf which has undergone a catastrophic disintegration since the 1960s. Understanding the cause and mechanism of the break-up may provide important clues to the fate of ice shelves farther south which, it has been suggested, help to stabilize the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. The break-up of Wordie Ice Shelf has been analysed using Landsat and SPOT imagery. These observations show that the relative contribution of the various input glaciers to the grounding line flux has not altered during the break-up. This means that the effect of the rapid and almost complete removal of the ice shelf has not been transmitted upstream and is not causing a rapid increase in velocities on the input glaciers. The volume of grounded ice in the catchment of Wordie Ice Shelf will thus, be largely unaffected by the break-up and there will be no significant contribution to sea level change. Since other ice shelves around the Antarctic Peninsula are also fed by relatively steep mountain glaciers the effect of the loss of the ice shelves on sea level would be likely to be similarly small.

Decadal changes in south west Antarctic Peninsula Ice Shelves

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Holt ◽  
Neil Glasser
Keyword(s):  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Patterns ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Fracture Width ◽  
Ice Shelves ◽  
West Antarctic ◽  
Flow Speeds ◽  
Speed Up ◽  
The Antarctic

<p>Over the latter half of the 20<sup>th</sup> Century and beginning of the 21<sup>st</sup> Century, ice shelves around the Antarctic Peninsula have been losing mass at an accelerating rate, attributable to changes in atmospheric and oceanic conditions. Ice shelves have declined in extent and thickness, and some show signs of structural weakening. Here we investigate the glaciological changes to Bach, Stange and George VI ice shelves that fringe the Southwest Antarctic Peninsula. We used satellite imagery from 2009/10 to 2019/20 (Landsat, Sentinel and ASTER) to measure areal changes, calculate flow speeds, and quantify structural changes, focusing on open fracture width and length. We reveal a total net loss of 797.5 km<sup>2</sup> from all three ice shelves since 2009/10, though spatial and temporal patterns of ice loss vary at individual ice fronts. Flow speeds have remained largely stable, but notable acceleration was calculated for Bach Ice Shelf, and at the northern and southern extents of George VI Ice Shelf. Open fractures have widened and lengthened over the observation periods. We conclude that Stange Ice Shelf is stable, and not under any immediate threat of enhanced recession. Continued ice-mass loss and consequential speed up of George VI South may cause further fracturing and destabilisation in the coming decades. Of more immediate concern are the glaciological changes noted for Bach Ice Shelf and George VI North; significant areas of passive ice have already, or will be soon removed, that could result in enhanced recession within the next decade.</p>

scholarly journals The link between climate warming and break-up of ice shelves in the Antarctic Peninsula

2000 ◽  
Vol 46 (154) ◽  
pp. 516-530 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ted A. Scambos ◽  
Christina Hulbe ◽  
Mark Fahnestock ◽  
Jennifer Bohlander
Keyword(s):  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Element Model ◽  
Flow Speed ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Ice Shelves ◽  
Melt Ponds ◽  
Break Up ◽  
The Antarctic

AbstractA review of in situ and remote-sensing data covering the ice shelves of the Antarctic Peninsula provides a series of characteristics closely associated with rapid shelf retreat: deeply embayed ice fronts; calving of myriad small elongate bergs in punctuated events; increasing flow speed; and the presence of melt ponds on the ice-shelf surface in the vicinity of the break-ups. As climate has warmed in the Antarctic Peninsula region, melt-season duration and the extent of ponding have increased. Most break-up events have occurred during longer melt seasons, suggesting that meltwater itself, not just warming, is responsible. Regions that show melting without pond formation are relatively unchanged. Melt ponds thus appear to be a robust harbinger of ice-shelf retreat. We use these observations to guide a model of ice-shelf flow and the effects of meltwater. Crevasses present in a region of surface ponding will likely fill to the brim with water. We hypothesize (building on Weertman (1973), Hughes (1983) and Van der Veen (1998)) that crevasse propagation by meltwater is the main mechanism by which ice shelves weaken and retreat. A thermodynamic finite-element model is used to evaluate ice flow and the strain field, and simple extensions of this model are used to investigate crack propagation by meltwater. The model results support the hypothesis.

Antarctic ice sheet response to upper-bound scenarios

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sainan Sun ◽  
Frank Pattyn
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Upper Bound ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Climate Forcing ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Antarctic Ice Sheet ◽  
Ice Shelves ◽  
Basal Sliding ◽  
The Antarctic

<p>Mass loss of the Antarctic ice sheet contributes the largest uncertainty of future sea-level rise projections. Ice-sheet model predictions are limited by uncertainties in climate forcing and poor understanding of processes such as ice viscosity. The Antarctic BUttressing Model Intercomparison Project (ABUMIP) has investigated the 'end-member' scenario, i.e., a total and sustained removal of buttressing from all Antarctic ice shelves, which can be regarded as the upper-bound physical possible, but implausible contribution of sea-level rise due to ice-shelf loss. In this study, we add successive layers of ‘realism’ to the ABUMIP scenario by considering sustained regional ice-shelf collapse and by introducing ice-shelf regrowth after collapse with the inclusion of ice-sheet and ice-shelf damage (Sun et al., 2017). Ice shelf regrowth has the ability to stabilize grounding lines, while ice shelf damage may reinforce ice loss. In combination with uncertainties from basal sliding and ice rheology, a more realistic physical upperbound to ice loss is sought. Results are compared in the light of other proposed mechanisms, such as MICI due to ice cliff collapse.</p>

scholarly journals Recent ice-surface-elevation changes of Fleming Glacier in response to the removal of the Wordie Ice Shelf, Antarctic Peninsula

2010 ◽  
Vol 51 (55) ◽  
pp. 97-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Wendt ◽  
A. Rivera ◽  
A. Wendt ◽  
F. Bown ◽  
R. Zamora ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Airborne Lidar ◽  
Similar Data ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
International Polar Year ◽  
Ice Flow ◽  
Ice Shelves ◽  
Elevation Changes ◽  
The Antarctic

AbstractRegional climate warming has caused several ice shelves on the Antarctic Peninsula to retreat and ultimately collapse during recent decades. Glaciers flowing into these retreating ice shelves have responded with accelerating ice flow and thinning. The Wordie Ice Shelf on the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula was reported to have undergone a major areal reduction before 1989. Since then, this ice shelf has continued to retreat and now very little floating ice remains. Little information is currently available regarding the dynamic response of the glaciers feeding the Wordie Ice Shelf, but we describe a Chilean International Polar Year project, initiated in 2007, targeted at studying the glacier dynamics in this area and their relationship to local meteorological conditions. Various data were collected during field campaigns to Fleming Glacier in the austral summers of 2007/08 and 2008/09. In situ measurements of ice-flow velocity first made in 1974 were repeated and these confirm satellite-based assessments that velocity on the glacier has increased by 40–50% since 1974. Airborne lidar data collected in December 2008 can be compared with similar data collected in 2004 in collaboration with NASA and the Chilean Navy. This comparison indicates continued thinning of the glacier, with increasing rates of thinning downstream, with a mean of 4.1 ± 0.2 m a−1 at the grounding line of the glacier. These comparisons give little indication that the glacier is achieving a new equilibrium.

scholarly journals Antarctic Ice-Sheet Volume at 18000 Years B.P. and Holocene Sea-Level Changes at the West Antarctic Margin

1979 ◽  
Vol 24 (90) ◽  
pp. 213-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig S. Lingle ◽  
James A. Clark
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Sea Level Changes ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Relative Sea Level ◽  
Antarctic Ice Sheet ◽  
West Antarctic Ice Sheet ◽  
West Antarctic ◽  
The Antarctic

AbstractThe Antarctic ice sheet has been reconstructed at 18000 years b.p. by Hughes and others (in press) using an ice-flow model. The volume of the portion of this reconstruction which contributed to a rise of post-glacial eustatic sea-level has been calculated and found to be (9.8±1.5) × 106 km3. This volume is equivalent to 25±4 m of eustatic sea-level rise, defined as the volume of water added to the ocean divided by ocean area. The total volume of the reconstructed Antarctic ice sheet was found to be (37±6) × 106 km3. If the results of Hughes and others are correct, Antarctica was the second largest contributor to post-glacial eustatic sea-level rise after the Laurentide ice sheet. The Farrell and Clark (1976) model for computation of the relative sea-level changes caused by changes in ice and water loading on a visco-elastic Earth has been applied to the ice-sheet reconstruction, and the results have been combined with the changes in relative sea-level caused by Northern Hemisphere deglaciation as previously calculated by Clark and others (1978). Three families of curves have been compiled, showing calculated relative sea-level change at different times near the margin of the possibly unstable West Antarctic ice sheet in the Ross Sea, Pine Island Bay, and the Weddell Sea. The curves suggest that the West Antarctic ice sheet remained grounded to the edge of the continental shelf until c. 13000 years b.p., when the rate of sea-level rise due to northern ice disintegration became sufficient to dominate emergence near the margin predicted otherwise to have been caused by shrinkage of the Antarctic ice mass. In addition, the curves suggest that falling relative sea-levels played a significant role in slowing and, perhaps, reversing retreat when grounding lines approached their present positions in the Ross and Weddell Seas. A predicted fall of relative sea-level beneath the central Ross Ice Shelf of as much as 23 m during the past 2000 years is found to be compatible with recent field evidence that the ice shelf is thickening in the south-east quadrant.

scholarly journals Speedup and fracturing of George VI Ice Shelf, Antarctic Peninsula

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 797-816 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. O. Holt ◽  
N. F. Glasser ◽  
D. J. Quincey ◽  
M. R. Siegfried
Keyword(s):  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Surface Elevation ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Ice Shelves ◽  
The North ◽  
Surface Elevation Change ◽  
Elevation Changes ◽  
Negative Surface ◽  
The Antarctic

Abstract. George VI Ice Shelf (GVIIS) is located on the Antarctic Peninsula, a region where several ice shelves have undergone rapid breakup in response to atmospheric and oceanic warming. We use a combination of optical (Landsat), radar (ERS 1/2 SAR) and laser altimetry (GLAS) datasets to examine the response of GVIIS to environmental change and to offer an assessment on its future stability. The spatial and structural changes of GVIIS (ca. 1973 to ca. 2010) are mapped and surface velocities are calculated at different time periods (InSAR and optical feature tracking from 1989 to 2009) to document changes in the ice shelf's flow regime. Surface elevation changes are recorded between 2003 and 2008 using repeat track ICESat acquisitions. We note an increase in fracture extent and distribution at the south ice front, ice-shelf acceleration towards both the north and south ice fronts and spatially varied negative surface elevation change throughout, with greater variations observed towards the central and southern regions of the ice shelf. We propose that whilst GVIIS is in no imminent danger of collapse, it is vulnerable to ongoing atmospheric and oceanic warming and is more susceptible to breakup along its southern margin in ice preconditioned for further retreat.

scholarly journals Speedup and fracturing of George VI Ice Shelf, Antarctic Peninsula

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 373-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. O. Holt ◽  
N. F. Glasser ◽  
D. J. Quincey ◽  
M. R. Siegfried
Keyword(s):  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Surface Elevation ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Ice Shelves ◽  
The North ◽  
Surface Elevation Change ◽  
Elevation Changes ◽  
Negative Surface ◽  
The Antarctic

Abstract. George VI Ice Shelf (GVIIS) is located on the Antarctic Peninsula, a region where several ice shelves have undergone rapid breakup in response to atmospheric and oceanic warming. We use a combination of optical (Landsat), radar (ERS 1/2 SAR) and laser altimetry (GLAS) datasets to examine the response of GVIIS to environmental change and to offer an assessment on its future stability. The spatial and structural changes of GVIIS (ca. 1973 to ca. 2010) are mapped and surface velocities are calculated at different time periods (InSAR and optical feature tracking from 1989 to 2009) to document changes in the ice shelf's flow regime. Surface elevation changes are recorded between 2003 and 2008 using repeat track ICESat acquisitions. We note an increase in fracture extent and distribution at the south ice front, ice-shelf acceleration towards both the north and south ice fronts and spatially varied negative surface elevation change throughout, with greater variations observed towards the central and southern regions of the ice shelf. We propose that whilst GVIIS is in no imminent danger of collapse, it is vulnerable to on-going atmospheric and oceanic warming and is more susceptible to breakup along its southern margin in ice preconditioned for further retreat.

scholarly journals A synthesis of remote sensing data on Wilkins Ice Shelf, Antarctica

1993 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 211-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.G. Vaughan ◽  
D.R. Mantripp ◽  
J. Sievers ◽  
C.S.M. Doake
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Accumulation Rate ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Dynamic Effect ◽  
Remotely Sensed Data ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Ice Shelves ◽  
Limit Of Viability ◽  
The Antarctic

Wilkins Ice Shelf has an area of 16000 km2 and lies off the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula bounded by Alexander, Latady, Charcot and Rothschild islands. Several ice shelves, including Wilkins, exist close to a climatic limit of viability. The recent disintegration of the neighbouring Wordie Ice Shelf has been linked to atmopsheric warming observed on the Antarctic Peninsula. The limit of ice-shelf viability thus appears to have migrated south. Should this continue, the question arises; how long will Wilkins Ice Shelf survive?Compared with the other ice shelves on the Antarctic Peninsula, few surface glaciological data have been collected on Wilkins Ice Shelf. We compare, contrast and combine a variety of remotely sensed data: the recently declassified GEOSAT Geodetic Mission altimetry, Landsat MSS and TM imagery, and radio-echo sounding data (RES), to study its structure and mass balance regime.We find that this shelf has an unusual mass balance regime and relies heavily for sustenance on in situ accumulation. Its response to a continued atmospheric warming may be significantly different from that of Wordie Ice Shelf. Wordie Ice Shelf was fed by several dynamic outlet glaciers which accelerated the disintegration process when the ice shelf fractured. Wilkins Ice Shelf by contrast is almost stagnant and is expected to respond by normal calving at the ice front. Changes in the accumulation rate or basal melt-rate may, however, dominate any dynamic effect. Over the last two decades the ice front positions have remained stable.

scholarly journals Changes of Wilkins Ice Shelf over the past 15 years and inferences on its stability

2009 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Braun ◽  
A. Humbert ◽  
A. Moll
Keyword(s):  
Sar Interferometry ◽  
Tidal Effects ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Structural Mapping ◽  
Ice Shelves ◽  
Ice Surface ◽  
Melt Ponds ◽  
Elevation Data ◽  
Break Up ◽  
The Antarctic

Abstract. The Wilkins Ice Shelf is situated on the Antarctic Peninsula, a region where seven ice shelves disintegrated or retreated between 1995 and 2002. This study combines various remote sensing datasets from Wilkins Ice Shelf, with the aim of detecting its present and recent dynamics as well as recent changes. The survey includes structural mapping, ERS-1/2 SAR interferometry and analysis of ICESat GLAS ice surface elevation data. Ice front retreat rates from 1986 to 2008 showed several distinct break-up events, including one in February 2008, when 40% of a part of the ice shelf that connected two islands broke off. Surface elevations have been used to study tidal effects, crack formation and to estimate the ice thickness over the floating area. The derived interferometric velocities cover the south-eastern part of the ice shelf as well as major tributaries and reveal maximum inflow speeds of up to 330 m a−1. We show that drainage of melt ponds into crevasses were of no relevance for the break-up at Wilkins Ice Shelf. Buoyancy forces caused rift formation before the break-up in February 2008. Additionally, the evolution of failure zones of the order of tenths of kilometres in length in pre-conditioned locations at ice rises is shown. Investigation of the current (February 2009) situation shows that about 3100 km2 at the Northern Wilkins Ice Shelf are endangered, however, there is no visible signature that the remaining 8000 km2 are at risk.

scholarly journals Electrical Resistivity of Ice from the Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica

1984 ◽  
Vol 30 (106) ◽  
pp. 289-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
John M. Reynolds ◽  
J. G. Paren
Keyword(s):  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Flow Line ◽  
Polar Regions ◽  
List Type ◽  
Electrical Measurements ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Ice Shelves ◽  
History Of ◽  
Surface Ice ◽  
The Antarctic

AbstractGeoresistivity soundings have been carried out at four sites in the Antarctic Peninsula. The objective of the work was to investigate the electrical behaviour of ice from an area where substantial melting occurs in summer and from contrasting thermal regimes. Electrical measurements made at three sites along a flow line within George VI Ice Shelf reveal that:(a)the resistivity of deep ice is similar to that of other Antarctic ice shelves,(b)the resistivity of the ice-shelf surface, which is affected by the percolation and refreezing of melt water, is similar to that of deep ice and hence the ice is polar in character.A compilation of published resistivities of deep ice from polar regions shows that the range of resistivities is very narrow (0.4 –2.0) x 105Ω m between –2 and – 29°C, irrespective of the physical setting and history of the ice. Typically, resistivity is within a factor of two of 80 kΩ m at –20° C with an activation energy of 0.22 eV. In contrast, the resistivity of surface ice at Wormald Ice Piedmont, where the ice is at 0°C throughout, is two orders of magnitude higher and falls at the lower end of the range of resistivities for temperate ice.

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