Re-establishment of ice-surface velocity field and snow surface elevation change around Dome Argus, East Antarctica

• Published in: Annals of Glaciology
• Main Authors: Hao Ke, Yuande Yang, Fei Li, Zemin Wang, Bo Sun, Dongchen E, Bo Jin, Minghu Ding
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press 2019
• Subjects: Antarctic glaciology; glacier mass balance; ice velocity; Meteorology. Climatology; QC851-999; Antarctic; East Antarctica; Dome Argus; Argus Dome; Argus, Dome; Annals of Glaciology; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2019.3; https://doaj.org/article/8e6b26b5c18c48cc8bcdbdb66564f22c

In January 2016, static GPS measurements were carried out in a 30 × 30 km2 area centered around Kunlun station at Dome Argus (Dome A), East Antarctica, to acquire high-precision 3-D geodetic coordinates at 49 sites. By comparing the coordinates with previous GPS measurements in 2008 and 2013 at the same sites, we constructed a detailed and long-term record of the ice-surface velocity field, 2008–2016, around Dome A. During this time span, the estimated ice-surface velocity ranges from 0.8 ± 0.3 to 28.7 ± 1.6 cm a−1, with a mean of 10.4 ± 0.3 cm a−1. From 2013 to 2016, the surface elevation of most Dome A areas exhibits a rising trend, and the maximum increase of snow surface elevation is 84.8 cm. The mean snow surface elevation change rate at Dome A is estimated to be 6.6 ± 0.7 cm a−1. The difference of 1.0 cm a−1 between the snow surface change rate derived from GPS and pole-height change rate from surface mass balance is suspected to be a result of a combination of firn densification and basal melt under Dome A.