Ambiguous stability of glaciers at bed peaks
Increasing ice flux from glaciers retreating over deepening (retrograde) bed topography has been implicated in the recent acceleration of mass loss from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. We show in observations that some glaciers have remained at peaks in bed topography without retreating desp...
Published in: | Journal of Glaciology |
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Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
2022
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2022.31 https://doaj.org/article/9eef1526afdc4bceb7bb9b63a0e620ba |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:9eef1526afdc4bceb7bb9b63a0e620ba 2023-05-15T14:13:30+02:00 Ambiguous stability of glaciers at bed peaks Alexander A. Robel Samuel S. Pegler Ginny Catania Denis Felikson Lauren M. Simkins 2022-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2022.31 https://doaj.org/article/9eef1526afdc4bceb7bb9b63a0e620ba EN eng Cambridge University Press https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143022000314/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0022-1430 https://doaj.org/toc/1727-5652 doi:10.1017/jog.2022.31 0022-1430 1727-5652 https://doaj.org/article/9eef1526afdc4bceb7bb9b63a0e620ba Journal of Glaciology, Vol 68, Pp 1177-1184 (2022) Ice dynamics ice-sheet modeling subglacial processes Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2022.31 2023-03-12T01:30:54Z Increasing ice flux from glaciers retreating over deepening (retrograde) bed topography has been implicated in the recent acceleration of mass loss from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. We show in observations that some glaciers have remained at peaks in bed topography without retreating despite enduring significant changes in climate. Observations also indicate that some glaciers which persist at bed peaks undergo sudden retreat years or decades after the onset of local ocean or atmospheric warming. Using model simulations, we show that persistence of a glacier at a bed peak is caused by ice slowing as it flows up a reverse-sloping bed to the peak. Persistence at bed peaks may lead to two very different future behaviors for a glacier: one where it persists at a bed peak indefinitely, and another where it retreats from the bed peak after potentially long delays following climate forcing. However, it is nearly impossible to distinguish which of these two future behaviors will occur from current observations. We conclude that inferring glacier stability from observations of persistence obscures our true commitment to future sea-level rise under climate change. We recommend that further research is needed on seemingly stable glaciers to determine their likely future. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic glacier Greenland Ice Sheet Journal of Glaciology Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic Greenland Journal of Glaciology 68 272 1177 1184 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Ice dynamics ice-sheet modeling subglacial processes Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
spellingShingle |
Ice dynamics ice-sheet modeling subglacial processes Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 Alexander A. Robel Samuel S. Pegler Ginny Catania Denis Felikson Lauren M. Simkins Ambiguous stability of glaciers at bed peaks |
topic_facet |
Ice dynamics ice-sheet modeling subglacial processes Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
description |
Increasing ice flux from glaciers retreating over deepening (retrograde) bed topography has been implicated in the recent acceleration of mass loss from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. We show in observations that some glaciers have remained at peaks in bed topography without retreating despite enduring significant changes in climate. Observations also indicate that some glaciers which persist at bed peaks undergo sudden retreat years or decades after the onset of local ocean or atmospheric warming. Using model simulations, we show that persistence of a glacier at a bed peak is caused by ice slowing as it flows up a reverse-sloping bed to the peak. Persistence at bed peaks may lead to two very different future behaviors for a glacier: one where it persists at a bed peak indefinitely, and another where it retreats from the bed peak after potentially long delays following climate forcing. However, it is nearly impossible to distinguish which of these two future behaviors will occur from current observations. We conclude that inferring glacier stability from observations of persistence obscures our true commitment to future sea-level rise under climate change. We recommend that further research is needed on seemingly stable glaciers to determine their likely future. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Alexander A. Robel Samuel S. Pegler Ginny Catania Denis Felikson Lauren M. Simkins |
author_facet |
Alexander A. Robel Samuel S. Pegler Ginny Catania Denis Felikson Lauren M. Simkins |
author_sort |
Alexander A. Robel |
title |
Ambiguous stability of glaciers at bed peaks |
title_short |
Ambiguous stability of glaciers at bed peaks |
title_full |
Ambiguous stability of glaciers at bed peaks |
title_fullStr |
Ambiguous stability of glaciers at bed peaks |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ambiguous stability of glaciers at bed peaks |
title_sort |
ambiguous stability of glaciers at bed peaks |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2022.31 https://doaj.org/article/9eef1526afdc4bceb7bb9b63a0e620ba |
geographic |
Antarctic Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Greenland |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic glacier Greenland Ice Sheet Journal of Glaciology |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic glacier Greenland Ice Sheet Journal of Glaciology |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology, Vol 68, Pp 1177-1184 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143022000314/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0022-1430 https://doaj.org/toc/1727-5652 doi:10.1017/jog.2022.31 0022-1430 1727-5652 https://doaj.org/article/9eef1526afdc4bceb7bb9b63a0e620ba |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2022.31 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_volume |
68 |
container_issue |
272 |
container_start_page |
1177 |
op_container_end_page |
1184 |
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1766285970889506816 |