scholarly journals Diagnosing the decline in climatic mass balance of glaciers in Svalbard over 1957–2014

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torbjørn Ims Østby ◽  
Thomas Vikhamar Schuler ◽  
Jon Ove Hagen ◽  
Regine Hock ◽  
Jack Kohler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Linear Trend ◽  
Model Performance ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Reanalysis Data ◽  
Svalbard Archipelago ◽  
Resolution Model ◽  
Summer Temperatures ◽  
Frontal Ablation

Abstract. Longterm mass balance of all glaciers of the high Arctic Svalbard archipelago is difficult to achieve due to spatial and temporal incompleteness of geodetic and direct glaciological measurements. To close these gaps, we use a coupled surface energy balance and snow pack model to analyze Svalbard glacier mass changes and its evolution for the period 1957–2014. The model is forced by ERA-40 and ERA-Interim reanalysis data downscaled to 1 km resolution. Model validation is based on measured snow/firn temperature and density, mass balance from stakes and ice cores, meteorological measurements, snow depths from radar profiles and remotely sensed surface albedo and skin temperatures. Overall model performance is good, but varies regionally. Over the entire period the model yields a climatic mass balance of 8.2 cm w.e. yr−1 which correspond to a mass surplus (excluding frontal ablation) of 175 Gt. Climatic mass balance has a linear trend of −1.4 ± 0.4 cm w.e. yr−2 with a shift from a positive to negative regime around 1980. Modeled mass balance exhibit large interannual variability, which is controlled by summer temperatures and further amplified by albedo feedback. For the period 2004–2013 climatic mass balance was −21 cm w.e. yr−1, and accounting for frontal ablation estimated by Błaszczyk et al. (2009) yields a total Svalbard mass balance of −39 cm w.e. yr−1 for this 10 year period. In terms of eustatic sea level, this corresponds to a rise of 0.037 mm yr−1. Refreezing of water in snow and firn is substantial at 22 cm w.e. yr−1, or 26 % of the accumulation. However, as warming lead to reduced firn area over the period, refreezing decrease both absolutely and relative to the mass budget. Negative mass balance and elevated equilibrium lines result in a massive loss of the thick firn (> 2 m) extent and an increase of the superimposed ice, thin firn (

scholarly journals Diagnosing the decline in climatic mass balance of glaciers in Svalbard over 1957–2014

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 191-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torbjørn Ims Østby ◽  
Thomas Vikhamar Schuler ◽  
Jon Ove Hagen ◽  
Regine Hock ◽  
Jack Kohler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Linear Trend ◽  
Model Performance ◽  
Marked Change ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Reanalysis Data ◽  
Svalbard Archipelago ◽  
Summer Temperatures

Abstract. Estimating the long-term mass balance of the high-Arctic Svalbard archipelago is difficult due to the incomplete geodetic and direct glaciological measurements, both in space and time. To close these gaps, we use a coupled surface energy balance and snow pack model to analyse the mass changes of all Svalbard glaciers for the period 1957–2014. The model is forced by ERA-40 and ERA-Interim reanalysis data, downscaled to 1 km resolution. The model is validated using snow/firn temperature and density measurements, mass balance from stakes and ice cores, meteorological measurements, snow depths from radar profiles and remotely sensed surface albedo and skin temperatures. Overall model performance is good, but it varies regionally. Over the entire period the model yields a climatic mass balance of 8.2 cm w. e.  yr−1, which corresponds to a mass input of 175 Gt. Climatic mass balance has a linear trend of −1.4 ± 0.4 cm w. e.  yr−2 with a shift from a positive to a negative regime around 1980. Modelled mass balance exhibits large interannual variability, which is controlled by summer temperatures and further amplified by the albedo feedback. For the recent period 2004–2013 climatic mass balance was −21 cm w. e.  yr−1, and accounting for frontal ablation estimated by Błaszczyk et al.(2009) yields a total Svalbard mass balance of −39 cm w. e.  yr−1 for this 10-year period. In terms of eustatic sea level, this corresponds to a rise of 0.037 mm yr−1. Refreezing of water in snow and firn is substantial at 22 cm w. e.  yr−1 or 26 % of total annual accumulation. However, as warming leads to reduced firn area over the period, refreezing decreases both absolutely and relative to the total accumulation. Negative mass balance and elevated equilibrium line altitudes (ELAs) resulted in massive reduction of the thick (>  2 m) firn extent and an increase in the superimposed ice, thin (<  2 m) firn and bare ice extents. Atmospheric warming also leads to a marked change in the thermal regime, with cooling of the glacier mid-elevation and warming in the ablation zone and upper firn areas. On the long-term, by removing the thermal barrier, this warming has implications for the vertical transfer of surface meltwater through the glacier and down to the base, influencing basal hydrology, sliding and thereby overall glacier motion.

Glaciers in the High Arctic and recent environmental change

1995 ◽  
Vol 352 (1699) ◽  
pp. 321-334 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Climate Warming ◽  
Meteorological Data ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Geological Evidence ◽  
Recent Climate ◽  
Severnaya Zemlya ◽  
Energy Balance Approach

High Arctic climate change over the last few hundred years includes the relatively cool Little Ice Age (LIA), followed by warming over the last hundred years or so. Meteorological data from the Eurasian High Arctic (Svalbard, Franz Josef Land, Severnaya Zemlya) and Canadian High Arctic islands are scarce before the mid-20th century, but longer records from Svalbard and Greenland show warming from about 1910-1920. Logs of Royal Navy ships in the Canadian Northwest Passage in the 1850s indicate temperatures cooler by 1-2.5 °C during the LIA. Other evidence of recent trends in High Arctic temperatures and precipitation is derived from ice cores, which show cooler temperatures (by 2-3 °C) for several hundred years before 1900, with high interdecadal variability. The proportion of melt layers in ice cores has also risen over the last 70-130 years, indicating warming. There is widespread geological evidence of glacier retreat in the High Arctic since about the turn of the century linked to the end of the LIA. An exception is the rapid advance of some surge-type ice masses. Mass balance measurements on ice caps in Arctic Canada, Svalbard and Severnaya Zemlya since 1950 show either negative or near-zero net balances, suggesting glacier response to recent climate warming. Glacier-climate links are modelled using an energy balance approach to predict glacier response to possible future climate warming, and cooler LIA temperatures. For Spitsbergen glaciers, a negative shift in mass balance of about 0.5 m a -1 is predicted for a 1 °C warming. A cooling of about 0.6 °C, or a 23% precipitation increase, would produce an approximately zero net mass balance. A ‘greenhouse-induced’ warming of 1 °C in the High Arctic is predicted to produce a global sea-level rise of 0.063 mm a -1 from ice cap melting.

scholarly journals A reconstruction of annual mass balances of Austria’s glaciers from 1969 to 1998

2011 ◽  
Vol 52 (59) ◽  
pp. 127-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Abermann ◽  
M. Kuhn ◽  
A. Fischer
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Reanalysis Data ◽  
Mass Balances ◽  
Lower Altitude ◽  
Surface Mass ◽  
Tuning Parameters ◽  
Degree Day ◽  
Covered Area ◽  
Summer Temperatures

AbstractAnnual glacier mass balances are reconstructed for 96% of the Austrian glacier-covered area (451 of 470 km2) between 1969 and 1998. The volume change derived from two complete glacier inventories (1969 and 1998) serves as the boundary condition that is aimed to be reproduced. ERA-40 reanalysis data as well as a gridded precipitation dataset (HISTALP) are used to drive a positive degree-day (PDD) model. The results are verified with four independent long-term mass-balance series. The spatial and vertical distribution of the tuning parameters is altered in order to reproduce the measured mean annual surface mass balances of selected glaciers, and a strong correlation is found between the median elevation of a glacier and the degree-day factor (DDF) at this elevation. This result implies that the lower a glacier’s median elevation is, the less melt occurs at a given elevation and temperature. We attribute this to the fact that lower-altitude glaciers are generally those with more accumulation, which leads to later exposure of bare ice and a longer period of high-albedo snow cover. A further improvement of the model was achieved by making DDF a function of time as well as space. The results indicate that mean DDFs generally increase for a given date over a sequence of consecutive negative mass-balance years, which probably reflects the reduction in albedo related to that. Finally, the major drivers of the observed mass-balance evolution are investigated: summer PDD sums correlate significantly better with the observed mass-balance changes than annual PDD sums or precipitation do. This implies that annual mass balances in the study area are governed by summer temperatures.

scholarly journals Reevaluation of the reconstruction of summer temperatures from melt features in Belukha ice cores, Siberian Altai

2011 ◽  
Vol 116 (D2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sachiko Okamoto ◽  
Koji Fujita ◽  
Hideki Narita ◽  
Jun Uetake ◽  
Nozomu Takeuchi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ice Cores ◽  
Summer Temperatures

scholarly journals Identification and phenotypic plasticity of Pseudanabaena catenata from the Svalbard archipelago

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 445-458 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zoya Khan ◽  
Wan Maznah Wan Omar ◽  
Faradina Merican Mohd Sidik Merican ◽  
Asmimie Asmawarnie Azizan ◽  
Choon Pin Foong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Apical Cell ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Culture Conditions ◽  
Rrna Gene ◽  
Molecular Characterisation ◽  
Liquid Media ◽  
Svalbard Archipelago ◽  
Temperature Regimes ◽  
Cell Dimensions

Abstract A filamentous benthic cyanobacteria, strain USMAC16, was isolated from the High Arctic Svalbard archipelago, Norway, and a combination of morphological, ultrastructural and molecular characterisation (16S rRNA gene sequence) used to identify to species level. Cell dimensions, thylakoid arrangement and apical cell shape are consistent with the Pseudanabaena genus description. The molecular characterisation of P. catenata gave 100% similarity with Pseudanabaena catenata SAG 1464-1, originally reported from Germany. Strain USMAC16 was cultured under a range of temperature and photoperiod conditions, in solid and liquid media, and harvested at exponential phase to examine its phenotypic plasticity. Under different culture conditions, we observed considerable variations in cell dimensions. The longest cell (5.91±0.13 μm) was observed at 15°C under 12:12 light:dark, and the widest cell (3.24±0.06 μm) at 4°C under 12:12 light: dark in liquid media. The study provides baseline data documenting the morphological variation of P. catenata in response to changing temperature regimes.

scholarly journals Surface mass balance and water stable isotopes derived from firn cores on three ice rises, Fimbul Ice Shelf, Antarctica

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 2763-2777 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmen P. Vega ◽  
Elisabeth Schlosser ◽  
Dmitry V. Divine ◽  
Jack Kohler ◽  
Tõnu Martma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Stable Isotope ◽  
Mass Balance ◽  
Temporal Variability ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Surface Mass Balance ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Climate Signal ◽  
Surface Mass ◽  
Water Stable Isotope

Abstract. Three shallow firn cores were retrieved in the austral summers of 2011/12 and 2013/14 on the ice rises Kupol Ciolkovskogo (KC), Kupol Moskovskij (KM), and Blåskimen Island (BI), all part of Fimbul Ice Shelf (FIS) in western Dronning Maud Land (DML), Antarctica. The cores were dated back to 1958 (KC), 1995 (KM), and 1996 (BI) by annual layer counting using high-resolution oxygen isotope (δ18O) data, and by identifying volcanic horizons using non-sea-salt sulfate (nssSO42−) data. The water stable isotope records show that the atmospheric signature of the annual snow accumulation cycle is well preserved in the firn column, especially at KM and BI. We are able to determine the annual surface mass balance (SMB), as well as the mean SMB values between identified volcanic horizons. Average SMB at the KM and BI sites (0.68 and 0.70 mw. e. yr−1) was higher than at the KC site (0.24 mw. e. yr−1), and there was greater temporal variability as well. Trends in the SMB and δ18O records from the KC core over the period of 1958–2012 agree well with other previously investigated cores in the area, thus the KC site could be considered the most representative of the climate of the region. Cores from KM and BI appear to be more affected by local meteorological conditions and surface topography. Our results suggest that the ice rises are suitable sites for the retrieval of longer firn and ice cores, but that BI has the best preserved seasonal cycles of the three records and is thus the most optimal site for high-resolution studies of temporal variability of the climate signal. Deuterium excess data suggest a possible effect of seasonal moisture transport changes on the annual isotopic signal. In agreement with previous studies, large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns most likely provide the dominant influence on water stable isotope ratios preserved at the core sites.

scholarly journals Climate dependent contrast in surface mass balance in East Antarctica over the past 216 ka

2016 ◽  
Vol 62 (236) ◽  
pp. 1037-1048 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. PARRENIN ◽  
S. FUJITA ◽  
A. ABE-OUCHI ◽  
K. KAWAMURA ◽  
V. MASSON-DELMOTTE ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Surface Mass Balance ◽  
Last Interglacial ◽  
Surface Mass ◽  
The Past ◽  
Water Stable Isotope ◽  
Global Mean Sea Level

ABSTRACTDocumenting past changes in the East Antarctic surface mass balance is important to improve ice core chronologies and to constrain the ice-sheet contribution to global mean sea-level change. Here we reconstruct past changes in the ratio of surface mass balance (SMB ratio) between the EPICA Dome C (EDC) and Dome Fuji (DF) East Antarctica ice core sites, based on a precise volcanic synchronization of the two ice cores and on corrections for the vertical thinning of layers. During the past 216 000 a, this SMB ratio, denoted SMBEDC/SMBDF, varied between 0.7 and 1.1, being small during cold periods and large during warm periods. Our results therefore reveal larger amplitudes of changes in SMB at EDC compared with DF, consistent with previous results showing larger amplitudes of changes in water stable isotopes and estimated surface temperature at EDC compared with DF. Within the last glacial inception (Marine Isotope Stages, MIS-5c and MIS-5d), the SMB ratio deviates by up to 0.2 from what is expected based on differences in water stable isotope records. Moreover, the SMB ratio is constant throughout the late parts of the current and last interglacial periods, despite contrasting isotopic trends.

scholarly journals Mass-balance variability as a base for interpreting ice-core data

1995 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 201-205
Author(s):  
V. N. Mikhalenko
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Extreme Values ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Tien Shan ◽  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
Similarity Type ◽  
Glacier System ◽  
Point Analysis ◽  
Drilling Site

The spatial extrapolation of data from ice cores depends on the complexity of the glacier system where the drilling site is located. The correlation between net mass balance, bn, of a specific point and of the whole glacier is different for each point. Analysis of net mass balance of Tuyuksu glacier in the Tien Shan, central Asia, confirms that the distribution of mass balance with height is more-or-less constant from year to year except in years with extreme values bn. Two types of “similarity” are described, additive and multiplicative. The “similarity” changes gradually from additive at the peripheral parts of the Tien Shan to multiplicative in the most continental central and eastern parts. Glacier mass-balance fluctuations of the frontal ridges are connected to the oscillations of accumulation and consequently to precipitation. Where the climate is more continental the mass-balance variability depends much more on the melting conditions than on accumulation. For the spatial interpretation of ice-core drilling results, a special analysis of “similarity type” is necessary. It allows the fixing of the spatial borders of the glacier system for which the dhilling site is representative.

Lower Cretaceous Barents Sea strata: epicontinental basin configuration, timing, correlation and depositional dynamics

2019 ◽  
Vol 157 (3) ◽  
pp. 458-476 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivar Midtkandal ◽  
Jan Inge Faleide ◽  
Thea Sveva Faleide ◽  
Christopher Sæbø Serck ◽  
Sverre Planke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sediment Transport ◽  
Early Cretaceous ◽  
Barents Sea ◽  
Source Area ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Large Igneous Province ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Svalbard Archipelago ◽  
Control Factors ◽  
Architectural Patterns

AbstractA comprehensive dataset is collated in a study on sediment transport, timing and basin physiography during the Early Cretaceous Period in the Boreal Basin (Barents Sea), one of the world’s largest and longest active epicontinental basins. Long-wavelength tectonic tilt related to the Early Cretaceous High Arctic Large Igneous Province (HALIP) set up a fluvial system that developed from a sediment source area in the NW, which flowed SE across the Svalbard archipelago, terminating in a low-accommodation shallow sea within the Bjarmeland Platform area of the present-day Barents Sea. The basin deepened to the SE with a ramp-like basin floor with gentle dip. Seismic data show sedimentary lobes with internal clinoform geometry that advanced from the NW. These lobes interfingered with, and were overlain by, another younger depositional system with similar lobes sourced from the NE. The integrated data allow mapping of architectural patterns that provide information on basin physiography and control factors on source-to-sink transport and depositional patterns within the giant epicontinental basin. The results highlight how low-gradient, low-accommodation sediment transport and deposition has taken place along proximal to distal profiles for several hundred kilometres, in response to subtle changes in base level and by intra-basinal highs and troughs. Long-distance correlation along depositional dip is therefore possible, but should be treated with caution to avoid misidentification of timelines for diachronous surfaces.

scholarly journals Contrasting molecular diversity and demography patterns in two intertidal amphipod crustaceans reflect Atlantification of High Arctic

2019 ◽  
Vol 166 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michał Grabowski ◽  
Aleksandra Jabłońska ◽  
Agata Weydmann-Zwolicka ◽  
Mikhail Gantsevich ◽  
Petr Strelkov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Operational Taxonomic Unit ◽  
Molecular Study ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Amphipod Species ◽  
Distribution Analysis ◽  
Svalbard Archipelago ◽  
Postglacial Expansion ◽  
Northern Atlantic ◽  
The Last Glacial

Abstract The distribution of two common intertidal amphipod species Gammarus oceanicus and Gammarus setosus was studied along the coast of Svalbard Archipelago. Genetic analysis showed geographical homogeneity of G. oceanicus with only one molecular operational taxonomic unit (MOTU) and much higher diversification of G. setosus (5 MOTUs) in the studied area. Only two MOTUs of G. setosus are widespread along the whole studied Svalbard coastline, whereas the remaining three MOTUs are present mainly along the northern and eastern parts of archipelago’s largest island, Spitsbergen. Distribution analysis indicates that the demographic and spatial expansion of G. oceanicus in the northern Atlantic has started already during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, ca. 18 ka), while G. setosus seems to be a long-persistent inhabitant of the Arctic, possibly even through the LGM, with slower distribution dynamics. Combining the results of our molecular study with previous field observations and the knowledge upon the direction of ocean currents around the Svalbard Archipelago, it can be assumed that G. oceanicus is a typical boreal Atlantic species that is still continuing its postglacial expansion northwards. In recent decades it colonized High Arctic due to the climate warming and has partly displaced G. setosus, that used to be the only common gammarid of the Svalbard intertidal zone.

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