Evolution of the dynamics of Airdrop Glacier, western Axel Heiberg Island, over a seven-decade-long advance
Various remotely sensed data, including historical aerial photographs, declassified intelligence satellite photographs, optical satellite imagery, and synthetic aperture radar data, were used to undertake the first comprehensive reconstruction of the dynamics of Airdrop Glacier on Axel Heiberg Islan...
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Canadian Science Publishing
2024
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:a8d607200c4c48b781e8bbaa5f3a6e04 2024-09-15T17:50:24+00:00 Evolution of the dynamics of Airdrop Glacier, western Axel Heiberg Island, over a seven-decade-long advance Benoît Lauzon Luke Copland Wesley Van Wychen William Kochtitzky Robert McNabb 2024-03-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2022-0045 https://doaj.org/article/a8d607200c4c48b781e8bbaa5f3a6e04 EN FR eng fre Canadian Science Publishing https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/as-2022-0045 https://doaj.org/toc/2368-7460 doi:10.1139/as-2022-0045 2368-7460 https://doaj.org/article/a8d607200c4c48b781e8bbaa5f3a6e04 Arctic Science, Vol 10, Iss 1, Pp 48-68 (2024) glacier dynamics glacier surging remote sensing Axel Heiberg Island Canadian Arctic Environmental sciences GE1-350 Environmental engineering TA170-171 article 2024 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2022-0045 2024-08-05T17:49:49Z Various remotely sensed data, including historical aerial photographs, declassified intelligence satellite photographs, optical satellite imagery, and synthetic aperture radar data, were used to undertake the first comprehensive reconstruction of the dynamics of Airdrop Glacier on Axel Heiberg Island, Nunavut. Observations show a continuous terminus advance totalling ∼6 km since 1950 and notably less variability in its surface velocities in comparison to adjacent Iceberg Glacier. This advance is concurrent with relatively high flow rates over its entire surface, resulting in significant thickening near the terminus and thinning at higher elevations. Velocities have more than halved from the mid-2000s to 2021, but without any definitive evidence of previous flow instabilities, we cannot confirm whether Airdrop's behaviour is cyclic in nature and therefore characteristic of a surge. Instead, Airdrop Glacier could be experiencing a delayed response to the positive mass balance conditions of the Little Ice Age, which could also explain the advance of other nearby glaciers. Its recent slowdown could then be indicative of a gradual adjustment to recent climatic conditions. This study highlights the need for comprehensive studies of glacier dynamics in the Canadian Arctic to improve our understanding of the factors triggering dynamic instabilities and causing the observed variety of behaviours. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Axel Heiberg Island Iceberg* Nunavut Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Science |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
language |
English French |
topic |
glacier dynamics glacier surging remote sensing Axel Heiberg Island Canadian Arctic Environmental sciences GE1-350 Environmental engineering TA170-171 |
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glacier dynamics glacier surging remote sensing Axel Heiberg Island Canadian Arctic Environmental sciences GE1-350 Environmental engineering TA170-171 Benoît Lauzon Luke Copland Wesley Van Wychen William Kochtitzky Robert McNabb Evolution of the dynamics of Airdrop Glacier, western Axel Heiberg Island, over a seven-decade-long advance |
topic_facet |
glacier dynamics glacier surging remote sensing Axel Heiberg Island Canadian Arctic Environmental sciences GE1-350 Environmental engineering TA170-171 |
description |
Various remotely sensed data, including historical aerial photographs, declassified intelligence satellite photographs, optical satellite imagery, and synthetic aperture radar data, were used to undertake the first comprehensive reconstruction of the dynamics of Airdrop Glacier on Axel Heiberg Island, Nunavut. Observations show a continuous terminus advance totalling ∼6 km since 1950 and notably less variability in its surface velocities in comparison to adjacent Iceberg Glacier. This advance is concurrent with relatively high flow rates over its entire surface, resulting in significant thickening near the terminus and thinning at higher elevations. Velocities have more than halved from the mid-2000s to 2021, but without any definitive evidence of previous flow instabilities, we cannot confirm whether Airdrop's behaviour is cyclic in nature and therefore characteristic of a surge. Instead, Airdrop Glacier could be experiencing a delayed response to the positive mass balance conditions of the Little Ice Age, which could also explain the advance of other nearby glaciers. Its recent slowdown could then be indicative of a gradual adjustment to recent climatic conditions. This study highlights the need for comprehensive studies of glacier dynamics in the Canadian Arctic to improve our understanding of the factors triggering dynamic instabilities and causing the observed variety of behaviours. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Benoît Lauzon Luke Copland Wesley Van Wychen William Kochtitzky Robert McNabb |
author_facet |
Benoît Lauzon Luke Copland Wesley Van Wychen William Kochtitzky Robert McNabb |
author_sort |
Benoît Lauzon |
title |
Evolution of the dynamics of Airdrop Glacier, western Axel Heiberg Island, over a seven-decade-long advance |
title_short |
Evolution of the dynamics of Airdrop Glacier, western Axel Heiberg Island, over a seven-decade-long advance |
title_full |
Evolution of the dynamics of Airdrop Glacier, western Axel Heiberg Island, over a seven-decade-long advance |
title_fullStr |
Evolution of the dynamics of Airdrop Glacier, western Axel Heiberg Island, over a seven-decade-long advance |
title_full_unstemmed |
Evolution of the dynamics of Airdrop Glacier, western Axel Heiberg Island, over a seven-decade-long advance |
title_sort |
evolution of the dynamics of airdrop glacier, western axel heiberg island, over a seven-decade-long advance |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2022-0045 https://doaj.org/article/a8d607200c4c48b781e8bbaa5f3a6e04 |
genre |
Arctic Axel Heiberg Island Iceberg* Nunavut |
genre_facet |
Arctic Axel Heiberg Island Iceberg* Nunavut |
op_source |
Arctic Science, Vol 10, Iss 1, Pp 48-68 (2024) |
op_relation |
https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/as-2022-0045 https://doaj.org/toc/2368-7460 doi:10.1139/as-2022-0045 2368-7460 https://doaj.org/article/a8d607200c4c48b781e8bbaa5f3a6e04 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2022-0045 |
container_title |
Arctic Science |
_version_ |
1810292227971219456 |