Environmental drivers of circum-Antarctic glacier and ice shelf front retreat over the last two decades
The safety band of Antarctica, consisting of floating glacier tongues and ice shelves, buttresses ice discharge of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Recent disintegration events of ice shelves along with glacier retreat indicate a weakening of this important safety band. Predicting calving front retreat is a...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:2e9216aafebf48578bdbb126273ddbf1 2023-05-15T13:54:11+02:00 Environmental drivers of circum-Antarctic glacier and ice shelf front retreat over the last two decades C. A. Baumhoer A. J. Dietz C. Kneisel H. Paeth C. Kuenzer 2021-05-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2357-2021 https://doaj.org/article/2e9216aafebf48578bdbb126273ddbf1 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/2357/2021/tc-15-2357-2021.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-15-2357-2021 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/2e9216aafebf48578bdbb126273ddbf1 The Cryosphere, Vol 15, Pp 2357-2381 (2021) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2357-2021 2022-12-31T12:30:34Z The safety band of Antarctica, consisting of floating glacier tongues and ice shelves, buttresses ice discharge of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Recent disintegration events of ice shelves along with glacier retreat indicate a weakening of this important safety band. Predicting calving front retreat is a real challenge due to complex ice dynamics in a data-scarce environment that are unique for each ice shelf and glacier. We explore the extent to which easy-to-access remote sensing and modeling data can help to define environmental conditions leading to calving front retreat. For the first time, we present a circum-Antarctic record of glacier and ice shelf front change over the last two decades in combination with environmental variables such as air temperature, sea ice days, snowmelt, sea surface temperature, and wind direction. We find that the Antarctic Ice Sheet area decreased by − 29 618 ± 1193 km 2 in extent between 1997–2008 and gained an area of 7108 ± 1029 km 2 between 2009 and 2018. Retreat concentrated along the Antarctic Peninsula and West Antarctica including the biggest ice shelves (Ross and Ronne). In several cases, glacier and ice shelf retreat occurred in conjunction with one or several changes in environmental variables. Decreasing sea ice days, intense snowmelt, weakening easterlies, and relative changes in sea surface temperature were identified as enabling factors for retreat. In contrast, relative increases in mean air temperature did not correlate with calving front retreat. For future studies a more appropriate measure for atmospheric forcing should be considered, including above-zero-degree days and temperature extreme events. To better understand drivers of glacier and ice shelf retreat, it is critical to analyze the magnitude of basal melt through the intrusion of warm Circumpolar Deep Water that is driven by strengthening westerlies and to further assess surface hydrology processes such as meltwater ponding, runoff, and lake drainage. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Sea ice The Cryosphere West Antarctica Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic West Antarctica The Cryosphere 15 5 2357 2381 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 C. A. Baumhoer A. J. Dietz C. Kneisel H. Paeth C. Kuenzer Environmental drivers of circum-Antarctic glacier and ice shelf front retreat over the last two decades |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
The safety band of Antarctica, consisting of floating glacier tongues and ice shelves, buttresses ice discharge of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Recent disintegration events of ice shelves along with glacier retreat indicate a weakening of this important safety band. Predicting calving front retreat is a real challenge due to complex ice dynamics in a data-scarce environment that are unique for each ice shelf and glacier. We explore the extent to which easy-to-access remote sensing and modeling data can help to define environmental conditions leading to calving front retreat. For the first time, we present a circum-Antarctic record of glacier and ice shelf front change over the last two decades in combination with environmental variables such as air temperature, sea ice days, snowmelt, sea surface temperature, and wind direction. We find that the Antarctic Ice Sheet area decreased by − 29 618 ± 1193 km 2 in extent between 1997–2008 and gained an area of 7108 ± 1029 km 2 between 2009 and 2018. Retreat concentrated along the Antarctic Peninsula and West Antarctica including the biggest ice shelves (Ross and Ronne). In several cases, glacier and ice shelf retreat occurred in conjunction with one or several changes in environmental variables. Decreasing sea ice days, intense snowmelt, weakening easterlies, and relative changes in sea surface temperature were identified as enabling factors for retreat. In contrast, relative increases in mean air temperature did not correlate with calving front retreat. For future studies a more appropriate measure for atmospheric forcing should be considered, including above-zero-degree days and temperature extreme events. To better understand drivers of glacier and ice shelf retreat, it is critical to analyze the magnitude of basal melt through the intrusion of warm Circumpolar Deep Water that is driven by strengthening westerlies and to further assess surface hydrology processes such as meltwater ponding, runoff, and lake drainage. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
C. A. Baumhoer A. J. Dietz C. Kneisel H. Paeth C. Kuenzer |
author_facet |
C. A. Baumhoer A. J. Dietz C. Kneisel H. Paeth C. Kuenzer |
author_sort |
C. A. Baumhoer |
title |
Environmental drivers of circum-Antarctic glacier and ice shelf front retreat over the last two decades |
title_short |
Environmental drivers of circum-Antarctic glacier and ice shelf front retreat over the last two decades |
title_full |
Environmental drivers of circum-Antarctic glacier and ice shelf front retreat over the last two decades |
title_fullStr |
Environmental drivers of circum-Antarctic glacier and ice shelf front retreat over the last two decades |
title_full_unstemmed |
Environmental drivers of circum-Antarctic glacier and ice shelf front retreat over the last two decades |
title_sort |
environmental drivers of circum-antarctic glacier and ice shelf front retreat over the last two decades |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2357-2021 https://doaj.org/article/2e9216aafebf48578bdbb126273ddbf1 |
geographic |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic West Antarctica |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic West Antarctica |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Sea ice The Cryosphere West Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Sea ice The Cryosphere West Antarctica |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 15, Pp 2357-2381 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/2357/2021/tc-15-2357-2021.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-15-2357-2021 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/2e9216aafebf48578bdbb126273ddbf1 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2357-2021 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
15 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
2357 |
op_container_end_page |
2381 |
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1766259876425629696 |