Meteorological drivers of melt at two nearby glaciers in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica
We study the meteorological drivers of melt at two glaciers in Taylor Valley, Antarctica, using 22 years of weather station observations and surface energy fluxes. The glaciers are located only 30 km apart, but have different local climates; Taylor Glacier is generally drier and windier than Commonw...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:c7c33c625c1b4694b2b1bd6ad36f11ac 2024-01-21T10:01:43+01:00 Meteorological drivers of melt at two nearby glaciers in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica Marte G. Hofsteenge Nicolas J. Cullen Jonathan P. Conway Carleen H. Reijmer Michiel R. van den Broeke Marwan Katurji https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2023.98 https://doaj.org/article/c7c33c625c1b4694b2b1bd6ad36f11ac EN eng Cambridge University Press https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143023000989/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0022-1430 https://doaj.org/toc/1727-5652 doi:10.1017/jog.2023.98 0022-1430 1727-5652 https://doaj.org/article/c7c33c625c1b4694b2b1bd6ad36f11ac Journal of Glaciology, Pp 1-13 Antarctic glaciology energy balance glacier meteorology ice/atmosphere interactions melt-surface Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 article ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2023.98 2023-12-24T01:46:48Z We study the meteorological drivers of melt at two glaciers in Taylor Valley, Antarctica, using 22 years of weather station observations and surface energy fluxes. The glaciers are located only 30 km apart, but have different local climates; Taylor Glacier is generally drier and windier than Commonwealth Glacier, which receives more snowfall due to its proximity to the coast. Commonwealth Glacier shows more inter-annual melt variability, explained by variable albedo due to summer snowfall events. A significant increase in surface melt at Commonwealth Glacier is associated with a decrease in summer minimum albedo. Inter-annual variability in melt at both glaciers is linked to degree-days above freezing during föhn events, occurring more frequently at Taylor Glacier. At Taylor Glacier melt occurs most often with positive air temperatures, but föhn conditions also favour sublimation, which cools the surface and prevents melt for the majority of the positive air temperatures. At Commonwealth Glacier, most of the melt instead occurs with sub-zero air temperatures, driven by strong solar radiative heating. Future melt at Taylor Glacier will likely be more sensitive to changes in föhn events, while Commonwealth Glacier will be impacted more by changes in near coastal weather, where moisture inputs can drive cloud cover, snowfall and change albedo. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Commonwealth Glacier Journal of Glaciology McMurdo Dry Valleys Taylor Glacier Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic Commonwealth Glacier ENVELOPE(163.317,163.317,-77.583,-77.583) McMurdo Dry Valleys Taylor Glacier ENVELOPE(162.167,162.167,-77.733,-77.733) Taylor Valley ENVELOPE(163.000,163.000,-77.617,-77.617) Journal of Glaciology 1 13 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Antarctic glaciology energy balance glacier meteorology ice/atmosphere interactions melt-surface Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
spellingShingle |
Antarctic glaciology energy balance glacier meteorology ice/atmosphere interactions melt-surface Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 Marte G. Hofsteenge Nicolas J. Cullen Jonathan P. Conway Carleen H. Reijmer Michiel R. van den Broeke Marwan Katurji Meteorological drivers of melt at two nearby glaciers in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Antarctic glaciology energy balance glacier meteorology ice/atmosphere interactions melt-surface Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
description |
We study the meteorological drivers of melt at two glaciers in Taylor Valley, Antarctica, using 22 years of weather station observations and surface energy fluxes. The glaciers are located only 30 km apart, but have different local climates; Taylor Glacier is generally drier and windier than Commonwealth Glacier, which receives more snowfall due to its proximity to the coast. Commonwealth Glacier shows more inter-annual melt variability, explained by variable albedo due to summer snowfall events. A significant increase in surface melt at Commonwealth Glacier is associated with a decrease in summer minimum albedo. Inter-annual variability in melt at both glaciers is linked to degree-days above freezing during föhn events, occurring more frequently at Taylor Glacier. At Taylor Glacier melt occurs most often with positive air temperatures, but föhn conditions also favour sublimation, which cools the surface and prevents melt for the majority of the positive air temperatures. At Commonwealth Glacier, most of the melt instead occurs with sub-zero air temperatures, driven by strong solar radiative heating. Future melt at Taylor Glacier will likely be more sensitive to changes in föhn events, while Commonwealth Glacier will be impacted more by changes in near coastal weather, where moisture inputs can drive cloud cover, snowfall and change albedo. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Marte G. Hofsteenge Nicolas J. Cullen Jonathan P. Conway Carleen H. Reijmer Michiel R. van den Broeke Marwan Katurji |
author_facet |
Marte G. Hofsteenge Nicolas J. Cullen Jonathan P. Conway Carleen H. Reijmer Michiel R. van den Broeke Marwan Katurji |
author_sort |
Marte G. Hofsteenge |
title |
Meteorological drivers of melt at two nearby glaciers in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica |
title_short |
Meteorological drivers of melt at two nearby glaciers in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica |
title_full |
Meteorological drivers of melt at two nearby glaciers in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Meteorological drivers of melt at two nearby glaciers in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Meteorological drivers of melt at two nearby glaciers in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica |
title_sort |
meteorological drivers of melt at two nearby glaciers in the mcmurdo dry valleys of antarctica |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2023.98 https://doaj.org/article/c7c33c625c1b4694b2b1bd6ad36f11ac |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(163.317,163.317,-77.583,-77.583) ENVELOPE(162.167,162.167,-77.733,-77.733) ENVELOPE(163.000,163.000,-77.617,-77.617) |
geographic |
Antarctic Commonwealth Glacier McMurdo Dry Valleys Taylor Glacier Taylor Valley |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Commonwealth Glacier McMurdo Dry Valleys Taylor Glacier Taylor Valley |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Commonwealth Glacier Journal of Glaciology McMurdo Dry Valleys Taylor Glacier |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Commonwealth Glacier Journal of Glaciology McMurdo Dry Valleys Taylor Glacier |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology, Pp 1-13 |
op_relation |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143023000989/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0022-1430 https://doaj.org/toc/1727-5652 doi:10.1017/jog.2023.98 0022-1430 1727-5652 https://doaj.org/article/c7c33c625c1b4694b2b1bd6ad36f11ac |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2023.98 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_start_page |
1 |
op_container_end_page |
13 |
_version_ |
1788691784093663232 |