Ice flow variations at Polar Record Glacier, East Antarctica
ABSTRACT Relatively little is known about the physical mechanisms that drive the dynamics of the East Antarctic outlet glaciers. Here we conduct a remote-sensing investigation of the Polar Record Glacier (PRG), East Antarctica to analyze its ice flow acceleration, ice front variations and ice surfac...
Published in: | Journal of Glaciology |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
2019
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2019.6 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143019000066 |
id |
crcambridgeupr:10.1017/jog.2019.6 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crcambridgeupr:10.1017/jog.2019.6 2024-09-15T17:41:11+00:00 Ice flow variations at Polar Record Glacier, East Antarctica LIANG, QI ZHOU, CHUNXIA HOWAT, IAN M. JEONG, SEONGSU LIU, RUIXI CHEN, YIMING 2019 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2019.6 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143019000066 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Journal of Glaciology volume 65, issue 250, page 279-287 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 journal-article 2019 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2019.6 2024-09-04T04:04:09Z ABSTRACT Relatively little is known about the physical mechanisms that drive the dynamics of the East Antarctic outlet glaciers. Here we conduct a remote-sensing investigation of the Polar Record Glacier (PRG), East Antarctica to analyze its ice flow acceleration, ice front variations and ice surface melting. Ice flow speeds at PRG increased by up to 15% from 2005 to 2015, with substantial interannual fluctuations. The ice velocities also showed seasonal variations, accelerating by up to 9% between September and January. Multiple mechanisms contribute to the observed seasonal variations: the initial acceleration may result from the lost back-stress provided by the sea ice in the austral spring and the later speedup relate to the surface meltwater that leads to weakened ice shelf and shear margins. The sensitivity of the PRG to oceanic forcing is confirmed by comparing the secular ice velocity increases with ocean temperatures. These measurements suggest that the dynamics of East Antarctic ice shelves are sensitive to melt at both the surface and base, at a range of timescales. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Journal of Glaciology Sea ice Cambridge University Press Journal of Glaciology 65 250 279 287 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
ABSTRACT Relatively little is known about the physical mechanisms that drive the dynamics of the East Antarctic outlet glaciers. Here we conduct a remote-sensing investigation of the Polar Record Glacier (PRG), East Antarctica to analyze its ice flow acceleration, ice front variations and ice surface melting. Ice flow speeds at PRG increased by up to 15% from 2005 to 2015, with substantial interannual fluctuations. The ice velocities also showed seasonal variations, accelerating by up to 9% between September and January. Multiple mechanisms contribute to the observed seasonal variations: the initial acceleration may result from the lost back-stress provided by the sea ice in the austral spring and the later speedup relate to the surface meltwater that leads to weakened ice shelf and shear margins. The sensitivity of the PRG to oceanic forcing is confirmed by comparing the secular ice velocity increases with ocean temperatures. These measurements suggest that the dynamics of East Antarctic ice shelves are sensitive to melt at both the surface and base, at a range of timescales. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
LIANG, QI ZHOU, CHUNXIA HOWAT, IAN M. JEONG, SEONGSU LIU, RUIXI CHEN, YIMING |
spellingShingle |
LIANG, QI ZHOU, CHUNXIA HOWAT, IAN M. JEONG, SEONGSU LIU, RUIXI CHEN, YIMING Ice flow variations at Polar Record Glacier, East Antarctica |
author_facet |
LIANG, QI ZHOU, CHUNXIA HOWAT, IAN M. JEONG, SEONGSU LIU, RUIXI CHEN, YIMING |
author_sort |
LIANG, QI |
title |
Ice flow variations at Polar Record Glacier, East Antarctica |
title_short |
Ice flow variations at Polar Record Glacier, East Antarctica |
title_full |
Ice flow variations at Polar Record Glacier, East Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Ice flow variations at Polar Record Glacier, East Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ice flow variations at Polar Record Glacier, East Antarctica |
title_sort |
ice flow variations at polar record glacier, east antarctica |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2019.6 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143019000066 |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Journal of Glaciology Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Journal of Glaciology Sea ice |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology volume 65, issue 250, page 279-287 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2019.6 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_volume |
65 |
container_issue |
250 |
container_start_page |
279 |
op_container_end_page |
287 |
_version_ |
1810487310064549888 |