scholarly journals Recent retreat of major outlet glaciers on Novaya Zemlya, Russian Arctic, influenced by fjord geometry and sea-ice conditions

2014 ◽  
Vol 60 (219) ◽  
pp. 155-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Rachel Carr ◽  
Chris Stokes ◽  
Andreas Vieli
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Barents Sea ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Glacier Retreat ◽  
Major Influence ◽  
Ice Dynamics ◽  
Novaya Zemlya ◽  
Ice Cap ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Order Of Magnitude

AbstractSubstantial ice loss has occurred in the Russian High Arctic during the past decade, predominantly on Novaya Zemlya, yet the region has been studied relatively little. Consequently, the factors forcing mass loss and the relative contribution of ice dynamics versus surface melt are poorly understood. Here we evaluate the influence of atmospheric/oceanic forcing and variations in fjord width on the behaviour of 38 glaciers on the northern ice cap, Novaya Zemlya. We compare retreat rates on land- versus marine-terminating outlets and on the Kara versus Barents Sea coasts. Between 1992 and 2010, 90% of the study glaciers retreated and retreat rates were an order of magnitude higher for marine-terminating outlets (52.1 ma-1) than for land-terminating glaciers (4.8ma-1). We identify a post-2000 acceleration in marine-terminating glacier retreat, which corresponded closely to changes in sea-ice concentrations. Retreat rates were higher on the Barents Sea coast, which we partly attribute to lower sea-ice concentrations, but varied dramatically between individual glaciers. We use empirical data to categorize changes in along-flow fjord width, and demonstrate a significant relationship between fjord width variability and retreat rate. Results suggest that variations in fjord width exert a major influence on glacier retreat.

scholarly journals Exceptional retreat of Novaya Zemlya's marine-terminating outlet glaciers between 2000 and 2013

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Rachel Carr ◽  
Heather Bell ◽  
Rebecca Killick ◽  
Tom Holt
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Remotely Sensed ◽  
Glacier Retreat ◽  
Remotely Sensed Data ◽  
Novaya Zemlya ◽  
The Past ◽  
Air Temperatures ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Novaya Zemlya (NVZ) has experienced rapid ice loss and accelerated marine-terminating glacier retreat during the past two decades. However, it is unknown whether this retreat is exceptional longer-term and/or whether it has persisted since 2010. Investigating this is vital, as dynamic thinning may contribute substantially to ice loss from NVZ, but is not currently included in sea level rise predictions. Here, we use remotely sensed data to assess controls on NVZ glacier retreat between the 1973/6 and 2015. Glaciers that terminate into lakes or the ocean receded 3.5 times faster than those that terminate on land. Between 2000 and 2013, retreat rates were significantly higher on marine-terminating outlet glaciers than during the previous 27 years, and we observe widespread slow-down in retreat, and even advance, between 2013 and 2015. There were some common patterns in the timing of glacier retreat, but the magnitude varied between individual glaciers. Rapid retreat between 2000–2013 corresponds to a period of significantly warmer air temperatures and reduced sea ice concentrations, and to changes in the NAO and AMO. We need to assess the impact of this accelerated retreat on dynamic ice losses from NVZ, to accurately quantify its future sea level rise contribution.

scholarly journals Surge-type glaciers in the Russian High Arctic identified from digital satellite imagery

1997 ◽  
Vol 43 (145) ◽  
pp. 489-494 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian A. Dowdeswell ◽  
Meredith Williams
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Structure ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Drainage Basins ◽  
Novaya Zemlya ◽  
Ice Cap ◽  
Franz Josef Land ◽  
Covered Area ◽  
Glacier Surges ◽  
Severnaya Zemlya ◽  
Summer Time

AbstractLandsat digital imagery was used to search the island archipelagos of Franz Josef Land, Severnaya Zemlya and Novaya Zemlya, Russian High Arctic, for the presence of looped moraines characteristic of past glacier surges. The imagery provides almost complete summer-time coverage of the 60 000 km2 of ice in these islands. very few surge-type glaciers are identified: none in Franz Josef Land, three in Novaya Zemlya and two on Severnaya Zemlya. This contrasts greatly with Svalbard (ice-covered area 36 600 km2), to the west, where 36% of glaciers and ice-cap drainage basins are inferred to surge. The strong climatic gradient across the Eurasian High Arctic, with decreasing temperature and moisture eastward, may provide a gross control on this pattern through colder glacier thermal structure, limiting basal drainage on the thinner ice masses in particular.

scholarly journals Recent ice cap snowmelt in Russian High Arctic and anti-correlation with late summer sea ice extent

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 045009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meng Zhao ◽  
Joan Ramage ◽  
Kathryn Semmens ◽  
Friedrich Obleitner
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Late Summer ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Sea Ice Extent ◽  
Ice Cap

Impact of wave-induced sea ice fragmentation on sea ice dynamics in the MIZ

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillaume Boutin ◽  
Timothy Williams ◽  
Pierre Rampal ◽  
Einar Olason ◽  
Camille Lique
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Barents Sea ◽  
Ice Cover ◽  
Arctic Sea Ice ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Sea Ice Extent ◽  
Ice Dynamics ◽  
Sea Ice Dynamics ◽  
Wave Induced ◽  
The Impact

<p>The decrease in Arctic sea ice extent is associated with an increase of the area where sea ice and open ocean interact, commonly referred to as the Marginal Ice Zone (MIZ). In this area, sea ice is particularly exposed to waves that can penetrate over tens to hundreds of kilometres into the ice cover. Waves are known to play a major role in the fragmentation of sea ice in the MIZ, and the interactions between wave-induced sea ice fragmentation and lateral melting have received particular attention in recent years. The impact of this fragmentation on sea ice dynamics, however, remains mostly unknown, although it is thought that fragmented sea ice experiences less resistance to deformation than pack ice. In this presentation, we will introduce a new coupled framework involving the spectral wave model WAVEWATCH III and the sea ice model neXtSIM, which includes a Maxwell-Elasto Brittle rheology. We use this coupled modelling system to investigate the potential impact of wave-induced sea ice fragmentation on sea ice dynamics. Focusing on the Barents Sea, we find that the decrease of the internal stress of sea ice resulting from its fragmentation by waves results in a more dynamical MIZ, in particular in areas where sea ice is compact. Sea ice drift is enhanced for both on-ice and off-ice wind conditions. Our results stress the importance of considering wave–sea-ice interactions for forecast applications. They also suggest that waves likely modulate the area of sea ice that is advected away from the pack by ocean (sub-)mesoscale eddies near the ice edge, potentially contributing to the observed past, current and future sea ice cover decline in the Arctic. </p>

scholarly journals Wave–sea-ice interactions in a brittle rheological framework

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillaume Boutin ◽  
Timothy Williams ◽  
Pierre Rampal ◽  
Einar Olason ◽  
Camille Lique
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Barents Sea ◽  
Ice Cover ◽  
Arctic Sea Ice ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Sea Ice Extent ◽  
Ice Dynamics ◽  
Sea Ice Dynamics ◽  
Wave Induced ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. The decrease in Arctic sea ice extent is associated with an increase of the area where sea ice and open ocean interact, commonly referred to as the Marginal Ice Zone (MIZ). In this area, sea ice is particularly exposed to waves that can penetrate over tens to hundreds of kilometres into the ice cover. Waves are known to play a major role in the fragmentation of sea ice in the MIZ, and the interactions between wave-induced sea ice fragmentation and lateral melting have received particular attention in recent years. The impact of this fragmentation on sea ice dynamics, however, remains mostly unknown, although it is thought that fragmented sea ice experiences less resistance to deformation than pack ice. Here, we introduce a new coupled framework involving the spectral wave model WAVEWATCH III and the sea ice model neXtSIM, which includes a Maxwell-Elasto Brittle rheology. We use this coupled modelling system to investigate the potential impact of wave-induced sea ice fragmentation on sea ice dynamics. Focusing on the Barents Sea, we find that the decrease of the internal stress of sea ice resulting from its fragmentation by waves results in a more dynamical MIZ, in particular in areas where sea ice is compact. Sea ice drift is enhanced for both on-ice and off-ice wind conditions. Our results stress the importance of considering wave–sea-ice interactions for forecast applications. They also suggest that waves likely modulate the area of sea ice that is advected away from the pack by ocean (sub-)mesoscale eddies near the ice edge, potentially contributing to the observed past, current and future sea ice cover decline in the Arctic.

scholarly journals Dependence of Sea Ice Yield-Curve Shape on Ice Thickness

2004 ◽  
Vol 34 (12) ◽  
pp. 2852-2856 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander V. Wilchinsky ◽  
Daniel L. Feltham
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Yield Curve ◽  
Ice Thickness ◽  
Curve Shape ◽  
Ice Dynamics ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Shape Dependence ◽  
Plastic Yield ◽  
Sea Ice Dynamics ◽  
Ice Floes

Abstract In this note, the authors discuss the contribution that frictional sliding of ice floes (or floe aggregates) past each other and pressure ridging make to the plastic yield curve of sea ice. Using results from a previous study that explicitly modeled the amount of sliding and ridging that occurs for a given global strain rate, it is noted that the relative contribution of sliding and ridging to ice stress depends upon ice thickness. The implication is that the shape and size of the plastic yield curve is dependent upon ice thickness. The yield-curve shape dependence is in addition to plastic hardening/weakening that relates the size of the yield curve to ice thickness. In most sea ice dynamics models the yield-curve shape is taken to be independent of ice thickness. The authors show that the change of the yield curve due to a change in the ice thickness can be taken into account by a weighted sum of two thickness-independent rheologies describing ridging and sliding effects separately. It would be straightforward to implement the thickness-dependent yield-curve shape described here into sea ice models used for global or regional ice prediction.

scholarly journals On sea-ice dynamical regimes in the Arctic Ocean

2015 ◽  
Vol 56 (69) ◽  
pp. 323-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.V. Lukovich ◽  
J.K. Hutchings ◽  
D.G. Barber
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Scaling Laws ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Ice Dynamics ◽  
Scaling Properties ◽  
Sea Ice Dynamics ◽  
Ice Drift ◽  
Dynamical Regimes ◽  
Sea Ice Drift

AbstractCentral to an understanding of evolution in sea-ice characteristics in response to climate change is an understanding of sea-ice dynamics. In this study, we investigate regional differences in ice dynamics in the Beaufort Sea and High Arctic using high-frequency ice buoy (beacon) data deployed during the SEDNA and IPY-CFL field campaigns from spring 2007 to winter 2008. Examined in particular are scaling laws determined from absolute dispersion statistics. We create temporal scaling maps to determine whether distinct dynamical regimes can be identified with differing scaling properties. The results from this analysis provide an alternative characterization to changes in sea ice based on dynamics rather than concentration and thickness, and thus insight into, and improved understanding of, the connections between sea-ice drift and morphology.

scholarly journals Sea ice phenology and primary productivity pulses shape breeding success in Arctic seabirds

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Ramírez ◽  
Arnaud Tarroux ◽  
Johanna Hovinen ◽  
Joan Navarro ◽  
Isabel Afán ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Barents Sea ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Ice Melt ◽  
Circumpolar Arctic ◽  
Suitable Framework ◽  
Ice Phenology

Abstract Spring sea ice phenology regulates the timing of the two consecutive pulses of marine autotrophs that form the base of the Arctic marine food webs. This timing has been suggested to be the single most essential driver of secondary production and the efficiency with which biomass and energy are transferred to higher trophic levels. We investigated the chronological sequence of productivity pulses and its potential cascading impacts on the reproductive performance of the High Arctic seabird community from Svalbard, Norway. We provide evidence that interannual changes in the seasonal patterns of marine productivity may impact the breeding performance of little auks and Brünnich’s guillemots. These results may be of particular interest given that current global warming trends in the Barents Sea region predict one of the highest rates of sea ice loss within the circumpolar Arctic. However, local- to regional-scale heterogeneity in sea ice melting phenology may add uncertainty to predictions of climate-driven environmental impacts on seabirds. Indeed, our fine-scale analysis reveals that the inshore Brünnich’s guillemots are facing a slower advancement in the timing of ice melt compared to the offshore-foraging little auks. We provide a suitable framework for analyzing the effects of climate-driven sea ice disappearance on seabird fitness.

Chapter 22 Modern glaciers and climate change

1997 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 436-448
Author(s):  
Julian A. Dowdeswell ◽  
Evelyn K. Dowdeswell
Keyword(s):  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Barents Sea ◽  
General Circulation Models ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Svalbard Archipelago ◽  
Air Masses ◽  
Ice Caps ◽  
Novaya Zemlya

By the start of the Holocene, the decay of the large ice sheet over Svalbard and the Barents Sea region was nearing completion, and glacier ice was approaching its present distribution (Elverhøi et al. 1993; Siegert & Dowdeswell 1995). Throughout most of the last 10 000 years, the extent of glaciers and ice caps over the archipelago has been no greater than that observed today, with the exception of minor readvances in the relatively cold 'Little Ice Age', which terminated at the beginning of the twentieth century. Nonetheless, ice today covers about 62% of the 62 000 km2 Svalbard archipelago (Fig. 22.1).Svalbard is one of four heavily ice-covered archipelagos in the Eurasian High Arctic; those to the east are Russian Franz Josef Land, Severnaya Zemlya and Novaya Zemlya. The ice cover on each archipelago is a function of topography and the location of each along the strong west-east gradient in climate across the Eurasian Arctic. Svalbard, as the most westerly of the four, is the warmest and receives the highest precipitation. This is due to its proximity to the relatively warm oceanic North Atlantic Drift and to the depression tracks transferring relatively temperate, moist air masses northward through the Norwegian-Greenland Sea. This position at the northernmost limit of both warm water and air masses makes the archipelago and its glaciers very sensitive to changes in atmospheric and ocean circulation. In addition, General Circulation Models (GCMs) predict that any future C02-induced warming will be most significant at high northern latitudes

scholarly journals Wave–sea-ice interactions in a brittle rheological framework

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 431-457
Author(s):  
Guillaume Boutin ◽  
Timothy Williams ◽  
Pierre Rampal ◽  
Einar Olason ◽  
Camille Lique
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Barents Sea ◽  
Ocean Waves ◽  
Ice Cover ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Sea Ice Extent ◽  
Ice Dynamics ◽  
Coupled Modelling ◽  
Wave Induced ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. As sea ice extent decreases in the Arctic, surface ocean waves have more time and space to develop and grow, exposing the marginal ice zone (MIZ) to more frequent and more energetic wave events. Waves can fragment the ice cover over tens of kilometres, and the prospect of increasing wave activity has sparked recent interest in the interactions between wave-induced sea ice fragmentation and lateral melting. The impact of this fragmentation on sea ice dynamics, however, remains mostly unknown, although it is thought that fragmented sea ice experiences less resistance to deformation than pack ice. Here, we introduce a new coupled framework involving the spectral wave model WAVEWATCH III and the sea ice model neXtSIM, which includes a Maxwell elasto-brittle rheology. This rheological framework enables the model to efficiently track and keep a “memory” of the level of sea ice damage. We propose that the level of sea ice damage increases when wave-induced fragmentation occurs. We used this coupled modelling system to investigate the potential impact of such a local mechanism on sea ice kinematics. Focusing on the Barents Sea, we found that the internal stress decrease of sea ice resulting from its fragmentation by waves resulted in a more dynamical MIZ, particularly in areas where sea ice is compact. Sea ice drift is enhanced for both on-ice and off-ice wind conditions. Our results stress the importance of considering wave–sea-ice interactions for forecast applications. They also suggest that waves likely modulate the area of sea ice that is advected away from the pack by the ocean, potentially contributing to the observed past, current and future sea ice cover decline in the Arctic.

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