Rapid wastage of the Hazen Plateau ice caps, northeastern Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada
Two pairs of small stagnant ice bodies on the Hazen Plateau of northeastern Ellesmere Island, the St. Patrick Bay ice caps and the Murray and Simmons ice caps, are rapidly shrinking, and the remnants of the St. Patrick Bay ice caps are likely to disappear entirely within the next 5 years. Vertical a...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:efbcd1abbbb14dcab52b46edeeec35bc 2023-05-15T16:05:55+02:00 Rapid wastage of the Hazen Plateau ice caps, northeastern Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada M. C. Serreze B. Raup C. Braun D. R. Hardy R. S. Bradley 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-169-2017 https://doaj.org/article/efbcd1abbbb14dcab52b46edeeec35bc EN eng Copernicus Publications http://www.the-cryosphere.net/11/169/2017/tc-11-169-2017.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 1994-0416 1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-11-169-2017 https://doaj.org/article/efbcd1abbbb14dcab52b46edeeec35bc The Cryosphere, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 169-177 (2017) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2017 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-169-2017 2022-12-31T07:24:47Z Two pairs of small stagnant ice bodies on the Hazen Plateau of northeastern Ellesmere Island, the St. Patrick Bay ice caps and the Murray and Simmons ice caps, are rapidly shrinking, and the remnants of the St. Patrick Bay ice caps are likely to disappear entirely within the next 5 years. Vertical aerial photographs of these Little Ice Age relics taken during August of 1959 show that the larger of the St. Patrick Bay ice caps had an area of 7.48 km 2 and the smaller one 2.93 km 2 the Murray and Simmons ice caps covered 4.37 and 7.45 km 2 respectively. Outlines determined from ASTER satellite data for July 2016 show that, compared to 1959, the larger and the smaller of the St. Patrick Bay ice caps had both been reduced to only 5 % of their former area, with the Murray and Simmons ice caps faring better at 39 and 25 %, likely reflecting their higher elevation. Consistent with findings from other glaciological studies in the Queen Elizabeth Islands, ASTER imagery in conjunction with past GPS surveys documents a strikingly rapid wastage of the St. Patrick Bay ice caps over the last 15 years. These two ice caps shrank noticeably even between 2014 and 2015, apparently in direct response to the especially warm summer of 2015 over northeastern Ellesmere Island. The well-documented recession patterns of the Hazen Plateau ice caps over the last 55+ years offer an opportunity to examine the processes of plant recolonization of polar landscapes. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ellesmere Island Nunavut Queen Elizabeth Islands The Cryosphere Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Canada Ellesmere Island Nunavut St. Patrick Bay ENVELOPE(-64.142,-64.142,81.785,81.785) The Cryosphere 11 1 169 177 |
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 M. C. Serreze B. Raup C. Braun D. R. Hardy R. S. Bradley Rapid wastage of the Hazen Plateau ice caps, northeastern Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Two pairs of small stagnant ice bodies on the Hazen Plateau of northeastern Ellesmere Island, the St. Patrick Bay ice caps and the Murray and Simmons ice caps, are rapidly shrinking, and the remnants of the St. Patrick Bay ice caps are likely to disappear entirely within the next 5 years. Vertical aerial photographs of these Little Ice Age relics taken during August of 1959 show that the larger of the St. Patrick Bay ice caps had an area of 7.48 km 2 and the smaller one 2.93 km 2 the Murray and Simmons ice caps covered 4.37 and 7.45 km 2 respectively. Outlines determined from ASTER satellite data for July 2016 show that, compared to 1959, the larger and the smaller of the St. Patrick Bay ice caps had both been reduced to only 5 % of their former area, with the Murray and Simmons ice caps faring better at 39 and 25 %, likely reflecting their higher elevation. Consistent with findings from other glaciological studies in the Queen Elizabeth Islands, ASTER imagery in conjunction with past GPS surveys documents a strikingly rapid wastage of the St. Patrick Bay ice caps over the last 15 years. These two ice caps shrank noticeably even between 2014 and 2015, apparently in direct response to the especially warm summer of 2015 over northeastern Ellesmere Island. The well-documented recession patterns of the Hazen Plateau ice caps over the last 55+ years offer an opportunity to examine the processes of plant recolonization of polar landscapes. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
M. C. Serreze B. Raup C. Braun D. R. Hardy R. S. Bradley |
author_facet |
M. C. Serreze B. Raup C. Braun D. R. Hardy R. S. Bradley |
author_sort |
M. C. Serreze |
title |
Rapid wastage of the Hazen Plateau ice caps, northeastern Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada |
title_short |
Rapid wastage of the Hazen Plateau ice caps, northeastern Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada |
title_full |
Rapid wastage of the Hazen Plateau ice caps, northeastern Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada |
title_fullStr |
Rapid wastage of the Hazen Plateau ice caps, northeastern Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada |
title_full_unstemmed |
Rapid wastage of the Hazen Plateau ice caps, northeastern Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada |
title_sort |
rapid wastage of the hazen plateau ice caps, northeastern ellesmere island, nunavut, canada |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-169-2017 https://doaj.org/article/efbcd1abbbb14dcab52b46edeeec35bc |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-64.142,-64.142,81.785,81.785) |
geographic |
Canada Ellesmere Island Nunavut St. Patrick Bay |
geographic_facet |
Canada Ellesmere Island Nunavut St. Patrick Bay |
genre |
Ellesmere Island Nunavut Queen Elizabeth Islands The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
Ellesmere Island Nunavut Queen Elizabeth Islands The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 169-177 (2017) |
op_relation |
http://www.the-cryosphere.net/11/169/2017/tc-11-169-2017.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 1994-0416 1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-11-169-2017 https://doaj.org/article/efbcd1abbbb14dcab52b46edeeec35bc |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-169-2017 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
169 |
op_container_end_page |
177 |
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1766401836714033152 |