Rapid loss of the Ayles Ice Shelf, Ellesmere Island, Canada

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: Copland, L., Mueller, D.R., Weir, L.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2007
• Subjects: Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Canada; Ellesmere Island; Ayles Ice Shelf; Ice Shelf; Ice Shelves; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://curve.carleton.ca/2516d0b2-25e0-4ec8-a336-4861c2d024f8; https://doi.org/10.1029/2007GL031809; http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2007GL031809/abstract?systemMessage=Wiley%20Online%20Library%20will%20be%20unavailable%20for%20up%20to%203%20hours%20on%20Saturday%2019th%20March%202016%20from%20%2011%3A00-14%3A00%20GMT%20/%2007%3A00-10%3A00%20EDT%20/%2019%3A00-22%3A00%20SGT%20for%20essential%20maintenance.%20%20Apologies%20for%20the%20inconvenience.

[1] On August 13, 2005, almost the entire Ayles Ice Shelf (87.1 km2) calved off within an hour and created a new 66.4 km2 ice island in the Arctic Ocean. This loss of one of the six remaining Ellesmere Island ice shelves reduced their overall area by ∼7.5%. The ice shelf was likely weakened prior to calving by a long-term negative mass balance related to an increase in mean annual temperatures over the past 50+ years. The weakened ice shelf then calved during the warmest summer on record in a period of high winds, record low sea ice conditions and the loss of a semi-permanent landfast sea ice fringe. Climate reanalysis suggests that a threshold of >200 positive degree days year−1 is important in determining when ice shelf calving events occur on N. Ellesmere Island.