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

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: Copland, L. (Luke), Mueller, D. (Derek), Weir, L. (Laurie)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2007
• Subjects: Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Canada; Ellesmere Island; Ayles Ice Shelf; Ice Shelf; Ice Shelves; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://ir.library.carleton.ca/pub/25900; https://doi.org/10.1029/2007GL031809

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. Copyright 2007 by the American Geophysical Union.