Low elevation of Svalbard glaciers drives high mass loss variability
Abstract Compared to other Arctic ice masses, Svalbard glaciers are low-elevated with flat interior accumulation areas, resulting in a marked peak in their current hypsometry (area-elevation distribution) at ~450 m above sea level. Since summer melt consistently exceeds winter snowfall, these low-ly...
Published in: | Nature Communications |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
Other Authors: | |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
2020
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18356-1 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-18356-1.pdf https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-18356-1 |
id |
crspringernat:10.1038/s41467-020-18356-1 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crspringernat:10.1038/s41467-020-18356-1 2023-05-15T15:04:46+02:00 Low elevation of Svalbard glaciers drives high mass loss variability Noël, Brice Jakobs, C. L. van Pelt, W. J. J. Lhermitte, S. Wouters, B. Kohler, J. Hagen, J. O. Luks, B. Reijmer, C. H. van de Berg, W. J. van den Broeke, M. R. Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek 2020 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18356-1 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-18356-1.pdf https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-18356-1 en eng Springer Science and Business Media LLC https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 CC-BY Nature Communications volume 11, issue 1 ISSN 2041-1723 General Physics and Astronomy General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology General Chemistry journal-article 2020 crspringernat https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18356-1 2022-01-04T10:38:12Z Abstract Compared to other Arctic ice masses, Svalbard glaciers are low-elevated with flat interior accumulation areas, resulting in a marked peak in their current hypsometry (area-elevation distribution) at ~450 m above sea level. Since summer melt consistently exceeds winter snowfall, these low-lying glaciers can only survive by refreezing a considerable fraction of surface melt and rain in the porous firn layer covering their accumulation zones. We use a high-resolution climate model to show that modest atmospheric warming in the mid-1980s forced the firn zone to retreat upward by ~100 m to coincide with the hypsometry peak. This led to a rapid areal reduction of firn cover available for refreezing, and strongly increased runoff from dark, bare ice areas, amplifying mass loss from all elevations. As the firn line fluctuates around the hypsometry peak in the current climate, Svalbard glaciers will continue to lose mass and show high sensitivity to temperature perturbations. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Svalbard Springer Nature (via Crossref) Arctic Svalbard Nature Communications 11 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Springer Nature (via Crossref) |
op_collection_id |
crspringernat |
language |
English |
topic |
General Physics and Astronomy General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology General Chemistry |
spellingShingle |
General Physics and Astronomy General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology General Chemistry Noël, Brice Jakobs, C. L. van Pelt, W. J. J. Lhermitte, S. Wouters, B. Kohler, J. Hagen, J. O. Luks, B. Reijmer, C. H. van de Berg, W. J. van den Broeke, M. R. Low elevation of Svalbard glaciers drives high mass loss variability |
topic_facet |
General Physics and Astronomy General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology General Chemistry |
description |
Abstract Compared to other Arctic ice masses, Svalbard glaciers are low-elevated with flat interior accumulation areas, resulting in a marked peak in their current hypsometry (area-elevation distribution) at ~450 m above sea level. Since summer melt consistently exceeds winter snowfall, these low-lying glaciers can only survive by refreezing a considerable fraction of surface melt and rain in the porous firn layer covering their accumulation zones. We use a high-resolution climate model to show that modest atmospheric warming in the mid-1980s forced the firn zone to retreat upward by ~100 m to coincide with the hypsometry peak. This led to a rapid areal reduction of firn cover available for refreezing, and strongly increased runoff from dark, bare ice areas, amplifying mass loss from all elevations. As the firn line fluctuates around the hypsometry peak in the current climate, Svalbard glaciers will continue to lose mass and show high sensitivity to temperature perturbations. |
author2 |
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Noël, Brice Jakobs, C. L. van Pelt, W. J. J. Lhermitte, S. Wouters, B. Kohler, J. Hagen, J. O. Luks, B. Reijmer, C. H. van de Berg, W. J. van den Broeke, M. R. |
author_facet |
Noël, Brice Jakobs, C. L. van Pelt, W. J. J. Lhermitte, S. Wouters, B. Kohler, J. Hagen, J. O. Luks, B. Reijmer, C. H. van de Berg, W. J. van den Broeke, M. R. |
author_sort |
Noël, Brice |
title |
Low elevation of Svalbard glaciers drives high mass loss variability |
title_short |
Low elevation of Svalbard glaciers drives high mass loss variability |
title_full |
Low elevation of Svalbard glaciers drives high mass loss variability |
title_fullStr |
Low elevation of Svalbard glaciers drives high mass loss variability |
title_full_unstemmed |
Low elevation of Svalbard glaciers drives high mass loss variability |
title_sort |
low elevation of svalbard glaciers drives high mass loss variability |
publisher |
Springer Science and Business Media LLC |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18356-1 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-18356-1.pdf https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-18356-1 |
geographic |
Arctic Svalbard |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard |
genre |
Arctic Svalbard |
genre_facet |
Arctic Svalbard |
op_source |
Nature Communications volume 11, issue 1 ISSN 2041-1723 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18356-1 |
container_title |
Nature Communications |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1766336495797403648 |