Rapid Wastage of the Hazen Plateau Ice Caps, Northeastern Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada

Abstract. Two pairs of small stagnant ice bodies on the Hazen Plateau of northeastern Ellesmere Island, the St. Patrick Bay ice caps and the Murray and Simmons ice caps, are rapidly shrinking, and the remnants of the St. Patrick Bay ice caps are likely to disappear entirely within the next five years. Vertical aerial photographs of these Little Ice Age relics taken during August of 1959 show that the larger of the St. Patrick Bay ice caps had an area of 7.48 km2, and the smaller one 2.93 km2. The Murray and Simmons ice caps covered 4.37 km2 and 7.45 km2 respectively. Outlines determined from ASTER satellite data for July 2016 show that, compared to 1959, the larger and the smaller of the St. Patrick Bay ice caps had both been reduced to only 5 % of their former area, with the Murray and Simmons ice caps faring better at 39 % and 25 %, likely reflecting their higher elevation. ASTER imagery in conjunction with past GPS surveys documents a strikingly rapid wastage of the St. Patrick Bay ice caps over the last 15 years. These two ice caps shrank noticeably even between 2014 and 2015, apparently in direct response to the especially warm summer of 2015 over northeastern Ellesmere Island. The well-documented recession patterns of the Hazen Plateau ice caps over the last 55+ years offer an opportunity to examine the processes of plant recolonization of polar landscapes.

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Rapid wastage of the Hazen Plateau ice caps, northeastern Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada

The Cryosphere ◽

10.5194/tc-11-169-2017 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 169-177 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Mark C. Serreze ◽

Bruce Raup ◽

Carsten Braun ◽

Douglas R. Hardy ◽

Raymond S. Bradley

Keyword(s):

Satellite Data ◽

Little Ice Age ◽

Ellesmere Island ◽

Ice Age ◽

Aerial Photographs ◽

Direct Response ◽

Ice Caps ◽

Warm Summer ◽

Plant Recolonization

Abstract. Two pairs of small stagnant ice bodies on the Hazen Plateau of northeastern Ellesmere Island, the St. Patrick Bay ice caps and the Murray and Simmons ice caps, are rapidly shrinking, and the remnants of the St. Patrick Bay ice caps are likely to disappear entirely within the next 5 years. Vertical aerial photographs of these Little Ice Age relics taken during August of 1959 show that the larger of the St. Patrick Bay ice caps had an area of 7.48 km2 and the smaller one 2.93 km2; the Murray and Simmons ice caps covered 4.37 and 7.45 km2 respectively. Outlines determined from ASTER satellite data for July 2016 show that, compared to 1959, the larger and the smaller of the St. Patrick Bay ice caps had both been reduced to only 5 % of their former area, with the Murray and Simmons ice caps faring better at 39 and 25 %, likely reflecting their higher elevation. Consistent with findings from other glaciological studies in the Queen Elizabeth Islands, ASTER imagery in conjunction with past GPS surveys documents a strikingly rapid wastage of the St. Patrick Bay ice caps over the last 15 years. These two ice caps shrank noticeably even between 2014 and 2015, apparently in direct response to the especially warm summer of 2015 over northeastern Ellesmere Island. The well-documented recession patterns of the Hazen Plateau ice caps over the last 55+ years offer an opportunity to examine the processes of plant recolonization of polar landscapes.

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The changing extent of marine-terminating glaciers and ice caps in northeastern Svalbard since the ‘Little Ice Age’ from marine-geophysical records

The Holocene ◽

10.1177/0959683619887429 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 30 (3) ◽

pp. 389-401 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Julian A Dowdeswell ◽

Dag Ottesen ◽

Valerie K Bellec

Keyword(s):

Little Ice Age ◽

Ice Age ◽

Aerial Photographs ◽

Past Century ◽

Ice Caps ◽

The Past ◽

Covered Area ◽

Data Coverage ◽

Climatic Cooling ◽

Glacial Landforms

Climate warming in Svalbard since the end of the ‘Little Ice Age’ early in the 20th century has reduced glacier extent in the archipelago. Previous attempts to reconstruct ‘Little Ice Age’ glacier limits have encountered problems in specifying the area of tidewater glacier advances because it is difficult to estimate the past positions of their marine termini. Multibeam echo-sounding data are needed to map past glacier extent offshore, especially in open-marine settings where subaerial lateral moraines cannot be used due to the absence of fjord walls. We use the submarine glacial landform record to measure the recent limits of advance of over 30 marine-terminating northeastern Svalbard glaciers and ice caps. Our results demonstrate that previous work has underestimated the ice-covered area relative to today by about 40% for northeastern Svalbard (excluding southeast Austfonna) because marine-geophysical evidence in the form of submarine terminal moraines was not included. We show that the recent ice extent was 1753 km2 larger than today over our full area of multibeam data coverage; about 5% of the total modern ice cover of Svalbard. It has often been assumed that moraine ridges located within a few kilometres of modern ice fronts in Svalbard represent either a ‘Little Ice Age’ maximum or relate to surge activity over the past century or so. In the marine environment of northeastern Svalbard, this timing can often be confirmed by reference to early historical maps and aerial photographs. Assemblages of submarine glacial landforms inshore of recently deposited terminal moraines suggest whether a recent advance may be a result of surging or ‘Little Ice Age’ climatic cooling relative to today. However, older terminal moraines do exist in the archipelago, as shown by radiocarbon and 10Be dating of Holocene moraine ridges.

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Recent, rapid and profound changes to glacier morphology and dynamics, Juneau Icefield, Alaska

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-1539 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Bethan Davies ◽

Jacob Bendle ◽

Robert McNabb ◽

Jonathan Carrivick ◽

Christopher McNeil ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Little Ice Age ◽

Ice Age ◽

Aerial Photographs ◽

Equilibrium Line Altitude ◽

Regional Warming ◽

Geomorphological Mapping ◽

Glacier Recession ◽

Digital Elevation ◽

High Resolution Satellite Imagery ◽

Global Sea Level

The Alaskan region (comprising glaciers in Alaska, British Columbia and Yukon) contains the third largest ice volume outside of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, and contributes more to global sea level rise than any other glacierised region defined by the Randolph Glacier Inventory. However, ice loss in this area is not linear, but in part controlled by glacier hypsometry as valley and outlet glaciers are at risk of becoming detached from their accumulation areas during thinning. Plateau icefields, such as Juneau Icefield in Alaska, are very sensitive to changes in Equilibrium Line Altitude (ELA) as this can result in rapidly shrinking accumulation areas. Here, we present detailed geomorphological mapping around Juneau Icefield and use this data to reconstruct the icefield during the &#8220;Little Ice Age&#8221;. We use topographic maps, archival aerial photographs, high-resolution satellite imagery and digital elevation models to map glacier lake and glacier area and volume change from the Little Ice Age to the present day (1770, 1948, 1979, 1990, 2005, 2015 and 2019 AD). Structural glaciological mapping (1979 and 2019) highlights structural and topographic controls on non-linear glacier recession.&#160; Our data shows pronounced glacier thinning and recession in response to widespread detachment of outlet glaciers from their plateau accumulation areas. Glacier detachments became common after 2005, and occurred with increasing frequency since then. Total summed rates of area change increased eightfold from 1770-1948 (-6.14 km2 a-1) to 2015-2019 (-45.23 km2 a-1). Total rates of recession were consistent from 1770 to 1990 AD, and grew increasingly rapid after 2005, in line with regional warming.

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Glacier changes since the Little Ice Age maximum in the western Qilian Shan, northwest China, and consequences of glacier runoff for water supply

Journal of Glaciology ◽

10.3189/172756503781830926 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 49 (164) ◽

pp. 117-124 ◽

Cited By ~ 120

Author(s):

Liu Shiyin ◽

Sun Wenxin ◽

Shen Yongping ◽

Li Gang

Keyword(s):

Little Ice Age ◽

Image Data ◽

Northwest China ◽

Ice Age ◽

Aerial Photographs ◽

Equilibrium Line Altitude ◽

North West ◽

Glacier Changes ◽

Glacier Runoff ◽

Topographical Maps

AbstractBased on aerial photographs, topographical maps and the Landsat-5 image data, we have analyzed fluctuations of glaciers in the western Qilian Shan, north-west China, from the Little Ice Age (LIA) to 1990. The areas and volumes of glaciers in the whole considered region decreased 15% and 18%, respectively, from the LIA maximum to 1956. This trend of glacier shrinkage continued and accelerated between 1956 and 1990. These latest decreases in area and volume were about 10% in 34 years. The recent shrinkage may be due either to a combination of higher temperatures and lower precipitation during the period 1956–66, or to continuous warming in the high glacierized mountains from 1956 to 1990. As a consequence, glacier runoff from ice wastage between 1956 and 1990 has increased river runoff by 6.2 km3 in the four river basins under consideration. Besides, the equilibrium-line altitude (ELA) rise estimated from the mean terminus retreat of small glaciers <1 km long is 46 m, which corresponds to a 0.3°C increase of mean temperatures in warm seasons from the LIA to the 1950s.

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Intermittent thinning of Jakobshavn Isbræ, West Greenland, since the Little Ice Age

Journal of Glaciology ◽

10.3189/002214308784409035 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 54 (184) ◽

pp. 131-144 ◽

Cited By ~ 85

Author(s):

Bea Csatho ◽

Toni Schenk ◽

C.J. Van Der Veen ◽

William B. Krabill

Keyword(s):

Little Ice Age ◽

Ice Age ◽

Aerial Photographs ◽

Dynamical Response ◽

The South ◽

Glacier Surface ◽

Local Climate ◽

West Greenland ◽

The North ◽

Climate Forcings

AbstractRapid thinning and velocity increase on major Greenland outlet glaciers during the last two decades may indicate that these glaciers became unstable as a consequence of the Jakobshavn effect (Hughes, 1986), with terminus retreat leading to increased discharge from the interior and consequent further thinning and retreat. To assess whether recent trends deviate from longer-term behavior, we measured glacier surface elevations and terminus positions for Jakobshavn Isbræ, West Greenland, using historical photographs acquired in 1944, 1953, 1959, 1964 and 1985. These results were combined with data from historical records, aerial photographs, ground surveys, airborne laser altimetry and field mapping of lateral moraines and trimlines, to reconstruct the history of changes since the Little Ice Age (LIA). We identified three periods of rapid thinning since the LIA: 1902–13, 1930–59 and 1999–present. During the first half of the 20th century, the calving front appears to have been grounded and it started to float during the late 1940s. The south and north tributaries exhibit different behavior. For example, the north tributary was thinning between 1959 and 1985 during a period when the calving front was stationary and the south tributary was in balance. The record of intermittent thinning, combined with changes in ice-marginal extent and position of the calving front, together with changes in velocity, imply that the behavior of the lower parts of this glacier represents a complex ice-dynamical response to local climate forcings and interactions with drainage from the interior.

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The retreat of tien shan glaciers (kyrgyzstan) since the little ice age estimated from aerial photographs, lichenometric and historical data

Geografiska Annaler Series A Physical Geography ◽

10.1111/j.0435-3676.2004.00225.x ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 86 (2) ◽

pp. 205-215 ◽

Cited By ~ 45

Author(s):

Olga Solomina ◽

Roger Barry ◽

Maria Bodnya

Keyword(s):

Little Ice Age ◽

Historical Data ◽

Tien Shan ◽

Ice Age ◽

Aerial Photographs

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A national glacier inventory and variations in glacier extent in Iceland from the Little Ice Age maximum to 2019

JOKULL ◽

10.33799/jokull.70.001 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 70 ◽

pp. 1-34

Author(s):

Hrafnhildur Hannesdóttir ◽

Oddur Sigurðsson ◽

Ragnar Þrastarson ◽

Snævarr Guðmundsson ◽

Joaquín Belart ◽

...

Keyword(s):

19Th Century ◽

Little Ice Age ◽

Volcanic Eruptions ◽

Ice Age ◽

Glacier Inventory ◽

Ice Caps ◽

Climatic Variations ◽

Intermediate Size ◽

Glacier Surges ◽

The 19Th Century

Abstract — A national glacier outline inventory for several different times since the end of the Little Ice Age (LIA) in Iceland has been created with input from several research groups and institutions, and submitted to the GLIMS (Global Land Ice Measurements from Space, nsidc.org/glims) database, where it is openly available. The glacier outlines have been revised and updated for consistency and the most representative outline chosen. The maximum glacier extent during the LIA was not reached simultaneously in Iceland, but many glaciers started retreating from their outermost LIA moraines around 1890. The total area of glaciers in Iceland in 2019 was approximately 10,400 km2, and has decreased by more than 2200 km2 since the end of the 19th century (corresponding to an 18% loss in area) and by approximately 750 km2 since ~2000. The larger ice caps have lost 10–30% of their maximum LIA area, whereas intermediate-size glaciers have been reduced by up to 80%. During the first two decades of the 21st century, the decrease rate has on average been approximately 40 km2 a-1. During this period, some tens of small glaciers have disappeared entirely. Temporal glacier inventories are important for climate change studies, for calibration of glacier models, for studies of glacier surges and glacier dynamics, and they are essential for better understanding of the state of glaciers. Although surges, volcanic eruptions and jökulhlaups influence the position of some glacier termini, glacier variations have been rather synchronous in Iceland, largely following climatic variations since the end of the 19th century.

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Perspectives on the production of a glacier inventory from multispectral satellite data in Arctic Canada: Cumberland Peninsula, Baffin Island

Annals of Glaciology ◽

10.3189/172756405781813087 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 42 ◽

pp. 59-66 ◽

Cited By ~ 120

Author(s):

Frank Paul ◽

Andreas Kääb

Keyword(s):

Satellite Data ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Ice Age ◽

The Arctic ◽

Baffin Island ◽

Inventory Data ◽

Arctic Canada ◽

Glacier Inventory ◽

Ice Caps ◽

Time Required

AbstractThe consequences of global warming on land ice masses are difficult to assess in detail, as two-dimensional glacier inventory data are still missing for many remote regions of the world. As the largest future temperature increase is expected to occur at high latitudes, the glaciers and ice caps in the Arctic will be particularly susceptible to the expected warming. This study demonstrates the possibilities of space-borne glacier inventorying at a remote site on Cumberland Peninsula, a part of Baffin Island in Arctic Canada, thereby providing glacier inventory data for this region. Our approach combines Landsat ETM+ and Terra ASTER satellite data, an ASTER-derived digital elevation model (DEM) and Geographic Information System-based processing. We used thresholded ratio images from ETM+ bands 3 and 5 and ASTER bands 3 and 4 for glacier mapping. Manual delineation of Little Ice Age trimlines and moraines has been applied to calculate area changes for 225 glaciers, yielding an average area loss of 11%. A size distribution has been obtained for 770 glaciers that is very different from that for Alpine glaciers. Numerous three-dimensional glacier parameters were derived from the ASTER DEM for a subset of 340 glaciers. The amount of working time required for the processing has been tracked, and resulted in 5 min per glacier, or 7 years for all estimated 160 000 glaciers worldwide.

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High sensitivity of North Iceland (Tröllaskagi) debris-free glaciers to climatic change from the ‘Little Ice Age’ to the present

The Holocene ◽

10.1177/0959683616683262 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 27 (8) ◽

pp. 1187-1200 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

José María Fernández-Fernández ◽

Nuria Andrés ◽

Þorsteinn Sæmundsson ◽

Skafti Brynjólfsson ◽

David Palacios

Keyword(s):

20Th Century ◽

Air Temperature ◽

Little Ice Age ◽

Satellite Image ◽

High Sensitivity ◽

Ice Age ◽

Aerial Photographs ◽

Early 20Th Century ◽

Equilibrium Line Altitude ◽

The Mean

The Tröllaskagi peninsula is located in northern Iceland, between meridian 19°30′W and 18°10′W, jutting out into the North Atlantic to latitude 66°12′N. The aim of this research is to study recent glacier changes in relation to climatic evolution of the Gljúfurárjökull and Tungnahryggsjökull debris-free valley glaciers in Tröllaskagi. Glacier extent mapping and spatial analysis operations were performed with ArcGIS (ESRI), using analysis of aerial photographs from 1946, 1985, 1994 and 2000, and a 2005 SPOT satellite image. The results show that these glaciers lost a quarter of their surface area between the ‘Little Ice Age’ and 2005. In this paper, the term ‘Little Ice Age’ follows Grove (2001) as the most recent period when glaciers extended globally between the medieval period and the early 20th century. The abrupt climatic transition of the early 20th century and the 25-year warm period 1925–1950 triggered the main retreat and volume loss of these glaciers since the end of the ‘Little Ice Age’. Meanwhile, cooling during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s altered the trend, with advances of the glacier snouts. Between the ‘Little Ice Age’ and the present day, the mean annual air temperature and mean ablation season air temperature increased by 1.9°C and 1.5°C, respectively, leading to a 40–50 m rise in the equilibrium line altitude (ELA) of the glaciers during this period. The response of these glaciers depends not only on the mean ablation season air temperature evolution but also on other factors such as winter precipitation. The models applied show a precipitation increase of up to more than 700 mm since the ‘Little Ice Age’.

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