Acceleration and spatial rheology of Larsen C Ice Shelf, Antarctic Peninsula
The disintegration of several Antarctic Peninsula ice shelves has focused attention on the state of the Larsen C Ice Shelf. Here, we use satellite observations to map ice shelf speed from the years 2000, 2006 and 2008 and apply inverse modeling to examine the spatial pattern of ice-shelf stiffness....
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ftcdlib:oai:escholarship.org:ark:/13030/qt7qr5m554 2023-09-05T13:14:18+02:00 Acceleration and spatial rheology of Larsen C Ice Shelf, Antarctic Peninsula Khazendar, A Rignot, E Larour, E 2011-05-16 application/pdf https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7qr5m554 unknown eScholarship, University of California qt7qr5m554 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7qr5m554 CC-BY Geophysical Research Letters, vol 38, iss 9 Life Below Water Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences article 2011 ftcdlib 2023-08-21T18:04:15Z The disintegration of several Antarctic Peninsula ice shelves has focused attention on the state of the Larsen C Ice Shelf. Here, we use satellite observations to map ice shelf speed from the years 2000, 2006 and 2008 and apply inverse modeling to examine the spatial pattern of ice-shelf stiffness. Results show that the northern half of the ice shelf has been accelerating since 2000, speeding up by 15% between 2000 and 2006 alone. The distribution of ice stiffness exhibits large spatial variations that we link to tributary glacier flow and fractures. Our results reveal that ice down-flow from promontories is consistently softer, with the exception of Churchill Peninsula where we infer a stabilizing role for marine ice. We conclude that although Larsen C is not facing imminent collapse, it is undergoing significant change in the form of flow acceleration that is spatially related to thinning and fracture. Copyright © 2011 by the American Geophysical Union. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Ice Shelf Ice Shelves University of California: eScholarship Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Churchill Peninsula ENVELOPE(-62.781,-62.781,-66.440,-66.440) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of California: eScholarship |
op_collection_id |
ftcdlib |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Life Below Water Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences |
spellingShingle |
Life Below Water Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences Khazendar, A Rignot, E Larour, E Acceleration and spatial rheology of Larsen C Ice Shelf, Antarctic Peninsula |
topic_facet |
Life Below Water Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences |
description |
The disintegration of several Antarctic Peninsula ice shelves has focused attention on the state of the Larsen C Ice Shelf. Here, we use satellite observations to map ice shelf speed from the years 2000, 2006 and 2008 and apply inverse modeling to examine the spatial pattern of ice-shelf stiffness. Results show that the northern half of the ice shelf has been accelerating since 2000, speeding up by 15% between 2000 and 2006 alone. The distribution of ice stiffness exhibits large spatial variations that we link to tributary glacier flow and fractures. Our results reveal that ice down-flow from promontories is consistently softer, with the exception of Churchill Peninsula where we infer a stabilizing role for marine ice. We conclude that although Larsen C is not facing imminent collapse, it is undergoing significant change in the form of flow acceleration that is spatially related to thinning and fracture. Copyright © 2011 by the American Geophysical Union. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Khazendar, A Rignot, E Larour, E |
author_facet |
Khazendar, A Rignot, E Larour, E |
author_sort |
Khazendar, A |
title |
Acceleration and spatial rheology of Larsen C Ice Shelf, Antarctic Peninsula |
title_short |
Acceleration and spatial rheology of Larsen C Ice Shelf, Antarctic Peninsula |
title_full |
Acceleration and spatial rheology of Larsen C Ice Shelf, Antarctic Peninsula |
title_fullStr |
Acceleration and spatial rheology of Larsen C Ice Shelf, Antarctic Peninsula |
title_full_unstemmed |
Acceleration and spatial rheology of Larsen C Ice Shelf, Antarctic Peninsula |
title_sort |
acceleration and spatial rheology of larsen c ice shelf, antarctic peninsula |
publisher |
eScholarship, University of California |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7qr5m554 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-62.781,-62.781,-66.440,-66.440) |
geographic |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Churchill Peninsula |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Churchill Peninsula |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Ice Shelf Ice Shelves |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Ice Shelf Ice Shelves |
op_source |
Geophysical Research Letters, vol 38, iss 9 |
op_relation |
qt7qr5m554 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7qr5m554 |
op_rights |
CC-BY |
_version_ |
1776205299923812352 |