Seasonal dynamics of Totten Ice Shelf controlled by sea ice buttressing
Previous studies of Totten Ice Shelf have employed surface velocity measurements to estimate its mass balance and understand its sensitivities to interannual changes in climate forcing. However, displacement measurements acquired over timescales of days to weeks may not accurately characterize long-...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:42806703b9354ed5919683776b8817f9 2023-05-15T16:41:50+02:00 Seasonal dynamics of Totten Ice Shelf controlled by sea ice buttressing C. A. Greene D. A. Young D. E. Gwyther B. K. Galton-Fenzi D. D. Blankenship 2018-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2869-2018 https://doaj.org/article/42806703b9354ed5919683776b8817f9 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://www.the-cryosphere.net/12/2869/2018/tc-12-2869-2018.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-12-2869-2018 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/42806703b9354ed5919683776b8817f9 The Cryosphere, Vol 12, Pp 2869-2882 (2018) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2018 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2869-2018 2022-12-31T01:59:55Z Previous studies of Totten Ice Shelf have employed surface velocity measurements to estimate its mass balance and understand its sensitivities to interannual changes in climate forcing. However, displacement measurements acquired over timescales of days to weeks may not accurately characterize long-term flow rates wherein ice velocity fluctuates with the seasons. Quantifying annual mass budgets or analyzing interannual changes in ice velocity requires knowing when and where observations of glacier velocity could be aliased by subannual variability. Here, we analyze 16 years of velocity data for Totten Ice Shelf, which we generate at subannual resolution by applying feature-tracking algorithms to several hundred satellite image pairs. We identify a seasonal cycle characterized by a spring to autumn speedup of more than 100 m yr −1 close to the ice front. The amplitude of the seasonal cycle diminishes with distance from the open ocean, suggesting the presence of a resistive back stress at the ice front that is strongest in winter. Springtime acceleration precedes summer surface melt and is not attributable to thinning from basal melt. We attribute the onset of ice shelf acceleration each spring to the loss of buttressing from the breakup of seasonal landfast sea ice. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ice Shelf Sea ice The Cryosphere Totten Ice Shelf Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles The Cryosphere 12 9 2869 2882 |
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. Greene D. A. Young D. E. Gwyther B. K. Galton-Fenzi D. D. Blankenship Seasonal dynamics of Totten Ice Shelf controlled by sea ice buttressing |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Previous studies of Totten Ice Shelf have employed surface velocity measurements to estimate its mass balance and understand its sensitivities to interannual changes in climate forcing. However, displacement measurements acquired over timescales of days to weeks may not accurately characterize long-term flow rates wherein ice velocity fluctuates with the seasons. Quantifying annual mass budgets or analyzing interannual changes in ice velocity requires knowing when and where observations of glacier velocity could be aliased by subannual variability. Here, we analyze 16 years of velocity data for Totten Ice Shelf, which we generate at subannual resolution by applying feature-tracking algorithms to several hundred satellite image pairs. We identify a seasonal cycle characterized by a spring to autumn speedup of more than 100 m yr −1 close to the ice front. The amplitude of the seasonal cycle diminishes with distance from the open ocean, suggesting the presence of a resistive back stress at the ice front that is strongest in winter. Springtime acceleration precedes summer surface melt and is not attributable to thinning from basal melt. We attribute the onset of ice shelf acceleration each spring to the loss of buttressing from the breakup of seasonal landfast sea ice. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
C. A. Greene D. A. Young D. E. Gwyther B. K. Galton-Fenzi D. D. Blankenship |
author_facet |
C. A. Greene D. A. Young D. E. Gwyther B. K. Galton-Fenzi D. D. Blankenship |
author_sort |
C. A. Greene |
title |
Seasonal dynamics of Totten Ice Shelf controlled by sea ice buttressing |
title_short |
Seasonal dynamics of Totten Ice Shelf controlled by sea ice buttressing |
title_full |
Seasonal dynamics of Totten Ice Shelf controlled by sea ice buttressing |
title_fullStr |
Seasonal dynamics of Totten Ice Shelf controlled by sea ice buttressing |
title_full_unstemmed |
Seasonal dynamics of Totten Ice Shelf controlled by sea ice buttressing |
title_sort |
seasonal dynamics of totten ice shelf controlled by sea ice buttressing |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2869-2018 https://doaj.org/article/42806703b9354ed5919683776b8817f9 |
genre |
Ice Shelf Sea ice The Cryosphere Totten Ice Shelf |
genre_facet |
Ice Shelf Sea ice The Cryosphere Totten Ice Shelf |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 12, Pp 2869-2882 (2018) |
op_relation |
https://www.the-cryosphere.net/12/2869/2018/tc-12-2869-2018.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-12-2869-2018 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/42806703b9354ed5919683776b8817f9 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2869-2018 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
12 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
2869 |
op_container_end_page |
2882 |
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1766032301435650048 |