Elevation Changes in Antarctica Mainly Determined by Accumulation Variability
Antarctic Ice Sheet elevation changes, which are used to estimate changes in the mass of the interior regions, are caused by variations in the depth of the firn layer. We quantified the effects of temperature and accumulation variability on firn layer thickness by simulating the 1980–2004 Antarctic...
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American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
2008
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1153894 https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.1153894 |
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craaas:10.1126/science.1153894 2024-06-23T07:45:27+00:00 Elevation Changes in Antarctica Mainly Determined by Accumulation Variability Helsen, Michiel M. van den Broeke, Michiel R. van de Wal, Roderik S. W. van de Berg, Willem Jan van Meijgaard, Erik Davis, Curt H. Li, Yonghong Goodwin, Ian 2008 http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1153894 https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.1153894 en eng American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science volume 320, issue 5883, page 1626-1629 ISSN 0036-8075 1095-9203 journal-article 2008 craaas https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1153894 2024-05-30T08:05:28Z Antarctic Ice Sheet elevation changes, which are used to estimate changes in the mass of the interior regions, are caused by variations in the depth of the firn layer. We quantified the effects of temperature and accumulation variability on firn layer thickness by simulating the 1980–2004 Antarctic firn depth variability. For most of Antarctica, the magnitudes of firn depth changes were comparable to those of observed ice sheet elevation changes. The current satellite observational period (∼15 years) is too short to neglect these fluctuations in firn depth when computing recent ice sheet mass changes. The amount of surface lowering in the Amundsen Sea Embayment revealed by satellite radar altimetry (1995–2003) was increased by including firn depth fluctuations, while a large area of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet slowly grew as a result of increased accumulation. Article in Journal/Newspaper Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet AAAS Resource Center (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Amundsen Sea Antarctic East Antarctic Ice Sheet Science 320 5883 1626 1629 |
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Open Polar |
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AAAS Resource Center (American Association for the Advancement of Science) |
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craaas |
language |
English |
description |
Antarctic Ice Sheet elevation changes, which are used to estimate changes in the mass of the interior regions, are caused by variations in the depth of the firn layer. We quantified the effects of temperature and accumulation variability on firn layer thickness by simulating the 1980–2004 Antarctic firn depth variability. For most of Antarctica, the magnitudes of firn depth changes were comparable to those of observed ice sheet elevation changes. The current satellite observational period (∼15 years) is too short to neglect these fluctuations in firn depth when computing recent ice sheet mass changes. The amount of surface lowering in the Amundsen Sea Embayment revealed by satellite radar altimetry (1995–2003) was increased by including firn depth fluctuations, while a large area of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet slowly grew as a result of increased accumulation. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Helsen, Michiel M. van den Broeke, Michiel R. van de Wal, Roderik S. W. van de Berg, Willem Jan van Meijgaard, Erik Davis, Curt H. Li, Yonghong Goodwin, Ian |
spellingShingle |
Helsen, Michiel M. van den Broeke, Michiel R. van de Wal, Roderik S. W. van de Berg, Willem Jan van Meijgaard, Erik Davis, Curt H. Li, Yonghong Goodwin, Ian Elevation Changes in Antarctica Mainly Determined by Accumulation Variability |
author_facet |
Helsen, Michiel M. van den Broeke, Michiel R. van de Wal, Roderik S. W. van de Berg, Willem Jan van Meijgaard, Erik Davis, Curt H. Li, Yonghong Goodwin, Ian |
author_sort |
Helsen, Michiel M. |
title |
Elevation Changes in Antarctica Mainly Determined by Accumulation Variability |
title_short |
Elevation Changes in Antarctica Mainly Determined by Accumulation Variability |
title_full |
Elevation Changes in Antarctica Mainly Determined by Accumulation Variability |
title_fullStr |
Elevation Changes in Antarctica Mainly Determined by Accumulation Variability |
title_full_unstemmed |
Elevation Changes in Antarctica Mainly Determined by Accumulation Variability |
title_sort |
elevation changes in antarctica mainly determined by accumulation variability |
publisher |
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1153894 https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.1153894 |
geographic |
Amundsen Sea Antarctic East Antarctic Ice Sheet |
geographic_facet |
Amundsen Sea Antarctic East Antarctic Ice Sheet |
genre |
Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet |
op_source |
Science volume 320, issue 5883, page 1626-1629 ISSN 0036-8075 1095-9203 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1153894 |
container_title |
Science |
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320 |
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5883 |
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1626 |
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1629 |
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1802639801714737152 |