Changes in area, flow speed and structure of southwest Antarctic Peninsula ice shelves in the 21st century
Since the mid-20th century, ice shelves around the Antarctic Peninsula have declined in extent and thickness, and some have shown signs of structural instability. Here, using satellite imagery from 1999/2000 to 2019/20 (Landsat 7 and 8, Sentinel-2 and ASTER), we measure areal changes, calculate surf...
Published in: | Journal of Glaciology |
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Cambridge University Press
2022
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2022.7 https://doaj.org/article/08cffa32ff0f4d8f872ea5f9e3b8f6f7 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:08cffa32ff0f4d8f872ea5f9e3b8f6f7 2023-05-15T13:47:24+02:00 Changes in area, flow speed and structure of southwest Antarctic Peninsula ice shelves in the 21st century Tom Holt Neil F Glasser 2022-10-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2022.7 https://doaj.org/article/08cffa32ff0f4d8f872ea5f9e3b8f6f7 EN eng Cambridge University Press https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143022000077/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0022-1430 https://doaj.org/toc/1727-5652 doi:10.1017/jog.2022.7 0022-1430 1727-5652 https://doaj.org/article/08cffa32ff0f4d8f872ea5f9e3b8f6f7 Journal of Glaciology, Vol 68, Pp 927-945 (2022) Antarctic glaciology ice shelves ice velocity remote sensing structural glaciology Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2022.7 2023-03-12T01:30:54Z Since the mid-20th century, ice shelves around the Antarctic Peninsula have declined in extent and thickness, and some have shown signs of structural instability. Here, using satellite imagery from 1999/2000 to 2019/20 (Landsat 7 and 8, Sentinel-2 and ASTER), we measure areal changes, calculate surface flow speeds, and quantify structural changes of Bach, Stange and George VI ice shelves, located in the southwest Antarctic Peninsula. We recorded a total area loss of 797.5 km2 from 2009/10 to 2019/20, though spatial and temporal patterns varied at individual ice fronts. Flow speeds remained largely stable over the observation periods, but notable acceleration was calculated for Bach Ice Shelf, and at the northern and southern extents of George VI Ice Shelf. Open fractures widened and lengthened between 2009/10 and 2019/20 on all three ice shelves. We conclude that Stange Ice Shelf is stable, and not under any immediate threat of enhanced recession. Continued ice-mass loss and consequential speed up of George VI South may cause further fracturing and destabilisation in the coming decades. Of more immediate concern are the glaciological changes noted for Bach Ice Shelf and George VI North; substantial areas of stabilising ice have already, or will soon be removed, that may lead to enhanced recession within the next decade. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Bach Ice Shelf George VI Ice Shelf Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Journal of Glaciology Stange Ice Shelf Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula George VI Ice Shelf ENVELOPE(-67.840,-67.840,-71.692,-71.692) Stange Ice Shelf ENVELOPE(-76.500,-76.500,-73.250,-73.250) Bach Ice Shelf ENVELOPE(-72.333,-72.333,-72.033,-72.033) Journal of Glaciology 1 19 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Antarctic glaciology ice shelves ice velocity remote sensing structural glaciology Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
spellingShingle |
Antarctic glaciology ice shelves ice velocity remote sensing structural glaciology Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 Tom Holt Neil F Glasser Changes in area, flow speed and structure of southwest Antarctic Peninsula ice shelves in the 21st century |
topic_facet |
Antarctic glaciology ice shelves ice velocity remote sensing structural glaciology Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
description |
Since the mid-20th century, ice shelves around the Antarctic Peninsula have declined in extent and thickness, and some have shown signs of structural instability. Here, using satellite imagery from 1999/2000 to 2019/20 (Landsat 7 and 8, Sentinel-2 and ASTER), we measure areal changes, calculate surface flow speeds, and quantify structural changes of Bach, Stange and George VI ice shelves, located in the southwest Antarctic Peninsula. We recorded a total area loss of 797.5 km2 from 2009/10 to 2019/20, though spatial and temporal patterns varied at individual ice fronts. Flow speeds remained largely stable over the observation periods, but notable acceleration was calculated for Bach Ice Shelf, and at the northern and southern extents of George VI Ice Shelf. Open fractures widened and lengthened between 2009/10 and 2019/20 on all three ice shelves. We conclude that Stange Ice Shelf is stable, and not under any immediate threat of enhanced recession. Continued ice-mass loss and consequential speed up of George VI South may cause further fracturing and destabilisation in the coming decades. Of more immediate concern are the glaciological changes noted for Bach Ice Shelf and George VI North; substantial areas of stabilising ice have already, or will soon be removed, that may lead to enhanced recession within the next decade. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Tom Holt Neil F Glasser |
author_facet |
Tom Holt Neil F Glasser |
author_sort |
Tom Holt |
title |
Changes in area, flow speed and structure of southwest Antarctic Peninsula ice shelves in the 21st century |
title_short |
Changes in area, flow speed and structure of southwest Antarctic Peninsula ice shelves in the 21st century |
title_full |
Changes in area, flow speed and structure of southwest Antarctic Peninsula ice shelves in the 21st century |
title_fullStr |
Changes in area, flow speed and structure of southwest Antarctic Peninsula ice shelves in the 21st century |
title_full_unstemmed |
Changes in area, flow speed and structure of southwest Antarctic Peninsula ice shelves in the 21st century |
title_sort |
changes in area, flow speed and structure of southwest antarctic peninsula ice shelves in the 21st century |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2022.7 https://doaj.org/article/08cffa32ff0f4d8f872ea5f9e3b8f6f7 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-67.840,-67.840,-71.692,-71.692) ENVELOPE(-76.500,-76.500,-73.250,-73.250) ENVELOPE(-72.333,-72.333,-72.033,-72.033) |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula George VI Ice Shelf Stange Ice Shelf Bach Ice Shelf |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula George VI Ice Shelf Stange Ice Shelf Bach Ice Shelf |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Bach Ice Shelf George VI Ice Shelf Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Journal of Glaciology Stange Ice Shelf |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Bach Ice Shelf George VI Ice Shelf Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Journal of Glaciology Stange Ice Shelf |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology, Vol 68, Pp 927-945 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143022000077/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0022-1430 https://doaj.org/toc/1727-5652 doi:10.1017/jog.2022.7 0022-1430 1727-5652 https://doaj.org/article/08cffa32ff0f4d8f872ea5f9e3b8f6f7 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2022.7 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_start_page |
1 |
op_container_end_page |
19 |
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1766247080422014976 |