Variable glacier response to atmospheric warming, northern Antarctic Peninsula, 1988-2009
The northern Antarctic Peninsula has recently exhibited ice-shelf disintegration, glacier recession and acceleration. However, the dynamic response of land-terminating, ice-shelf tributary and tidewater glaciers has not yet been quantified or assessed for variability, and there are sparse data for g...
Published in: | The Cryosphere |
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Language: | English |
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Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union
2013
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Online Access: | http://www.the-cryosphere.net/6/1031/2012/tc-6-1031-2012.html http://hdl.handle.net/2381/28443 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-6-1031-2012 |
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ftleicester:oai:lra.le.ac.uk:2381/28443 2023-05-15T14:03:40+02:00 Variable glacier response to atmospheric warming, northern Antarctic Peninsula, 1988-2009 Davies, B.J. Carrivick, J.L. Glasser, N.F. Hambrey, M.J. Smellie, John L. 2013-11-21T12:16:12Z http://www.the-cryosphere.net/6/1031/2012/tc-6-1031-2012.html http://hdl.handle.net/2381/28443 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-6-1031-2012 en eng Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union Cryosphere, 2012, 6 (5), pp. 1031-1048 1994-0416 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/6/1031/2012/tc-6-1031-2012.html http://hdl.handle.net/2381/28443 doi:10.5194/tc-6-1031-2012 1994-0424 Copyright © the authors, 2012. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. CC-BY Journal Article 2013 ftleicester https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-6-1031-2012 2019-03-22T20:19:12Z The northern Antarctic Peninsula has recently exhibited ice-shelf disintegration, glacier recession and acceleration. However, the dynamic response of land-terminating, ice-shelf tributary and tidewater glaciers has not yet been quantified or assessed for variability, and there are sparse data for glacier classification, morphology, area, length or altitude. This paper firstly classifies the area, length, altitude, slope, aspect, geomorphology, type and hypsometry of 194 glaciers on Trinity Peninsula, Vega Island and James Ross Island in 2009 AD. Secondly, this paper documents glacier change 1988-2009. In 2009, the glacierised area was 8140±262 km2. From 1988-2001, 90% of glaciers receded, and from 2001-2009, 79% receded. This equates to an area change of -4.4% for Trinity Peninsula eastern coast glaciers, -0.6% for western coast glaciers, and -35.0% for ice-shelf tributary glaciers from 1988-2001. Tidewater glaciers on the drier, cooler eastern Trinity Peninsula experienced fastest shrinkage from 1988-2001, with limited frontal change after 2001. Glaciers on the western Trinity Peninsula shrank less than those on the east. Land-terminating glaciers on James Ross Island shrank fastest in the period 1988-2001. This east-west difference is largely a result of orographic temperature and precipitation gradients across the Antarctic Peninsula, with warming temperatures affecting the precipitation-starved glaciers on the eastern coast more than on the western coast. Reduced shrinkage on the western Peninsula may be a result of higher snowfall, perhaps in conjunction with the fact that these glaciers are mostly grounded. Rates of area loss on the eastern side of Trinity Peninsula are slowing, which we attribute to the floating ice tongues receding into the fjords and reaching a new dynamic equilibrium. The rapid shrinkage of tidewater glaciers on James Ross Island is likely to continue because of their low elevations and flat profiles. In contrast, the higher and steeper tidewater glaciers on the eastern Antarctic Peninsula will attain more stable frontal positions after low-lying ablation areas are removed, reaching equilibrium more quickly. Peer-reviewed Publisher Version Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Ice Shelf James Ross Island Ross Island Tidewater Vega Island University of Leicester: Leicester Research Archive (LRA) Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Ross Island Trinity Peninsula ENVELOPE(-58.000,-58.000,-63.500,-63.500) Vega Island ENVELOPE(-57.500,-57.500,-63.833,-63.833) The Cryosphere 6 5 1031 1048 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Leicester: Leicester Research Archive (LRA) |
op_collection_id |
ftleicester |
language |
English |
description |
The northern Antarctic Peninsula has recently exhibited ice-shelf disintegration, glacier recession and acceleration. However, the dynamic response of land-terminating, ice-shelf tributary and tidewater glaciers has not yet been quantified or assessed for variability, and there are sparse data for glacier classification, morphology, area, length or altitude. This paper firstly classifies the area, length, altitude, slope, aspect, geomorphology, type and hypsometry of 194 glaciers on Trinity Peninsula, Vega Island and James Ross Island in 2009 AD. Secondly, this paper documents glacier change 1988-2009. In 2009, the glacierised area was 8140±262 km2. From 1988-2001, 90% of glaciers receded, and from 2001-2009, 79% receded. This equates to an area change of -4.4% for Trinity Peninsula eastern coast glaciers, -0.6% for western coast glaciers, and -35.0% for ice-shelf tributary glaciers from 1988-2001. Tidewater glaciers on the drier, cooler eastern Trinity Peninsula experienced fastest shrinkage from 1988-2001, with limited frontal change after 2001. Glaciers on the western Trinity Peninsula shrank less than those on the east. Land-terminating glaciers on James Ross Island shrank fastest in the period 1988-2001. This east-west difference is largely a result of orographic temperature and precipitation gradients across the Antarctic Peninsula, with warming temperatures affecting the precipitation-starved glaciers on the eastern coast more than on the western coast. Reduced shrinkage on the western Peninsula may be a result of higher snowfall, perhaps in conjunction with the fact that these glaciers are mostly grounded. Rates of area loss on the eastern side of Trinity Peninsula are slowing, which we attribute to the floating ice tongues receding into the fjords and reaching a new dynamic equilibrium. The rapid shrinkage of tidewater glaciers on James Ross Island is likely to continue because of their low elevations and flat profiles. In contrast, the higher and steeper tidewater glaciers on the eastern Antarctic Peninsula will attain more stable frontal positions after low-lying ablation areas are removed, reaching equilibrium more quickly. Peer-reviewed Publisher Version |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Davies, B.J. Carrivick, J.L. Glasser, N.F. Hambrey, M.J. Smellie, John L. |
spellingShingle |
Davies, B.J. Carrivick, J.L. Glasser, N.F. Hambrey, M.J. Smellie, John L. Variable glacier response to atmospheric warming, northern Antarctic Peninsula, 1988-2009 |
author_facet |
Davies, B.J. Carrivick, J.L. Glasser, N.F. Hambrey, M.J. Smellie, John L. |
author_sort |
Davies, B.J. |
title |
Variable glacier response to atmospheric warming, northern Antarctic Peninsula, 1988-2009 |
title_short |
Variable glacier response to atmospheric warming, northern Antarctic Peninsula, 1988-2009 |
title_full |
Variable glacier response to atmospheric warming, northern Antarctic Peninsula, 1988-2009 |
title_fullStr |
Variable glacier response to atmospheric warming, northern Antarctic Peninsula, 1988-2009 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Variable glacier response to atmospheric warming, northern Antarctic Peninsula, 1988-2009 |
title_sort |
variable glacier response to atmospheric warming, northern antarctic peninsula, 1988-2009 |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
http://www.the-cryosphere.net/6/1031/2012/tc-6-1031-2012.html http://hdl.handle.net/2381/28443 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-6-1031-2012 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-58.000,-58.000,-63.500,-63.500) ENVELOPE(-57.500,-57.500,-63.833,-63.833) |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Ross Island Trinity Peninsula Vega Island |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Ross Island Trinity Peninsula Vega Island |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Ice Shelf James Ross Island Ross Island Tidewater Vega Island |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Ice Shelf James Ross Island Ross Island Tidewater Vega Island |
op_relation |
Cryosphere, 2012, 6 (5), pp. 1031-1048 1994-0416 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/6/1031/2012/tc-6-1031-2012.html http://hdl.handle.net/2381/28443 doi:10.5194/tc-6-1031-2012 1994-0424 |
op_rights |
Copyright © the authors, 2012. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-6-1031-2012 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
6 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
1031 |
op_container_end_page |
1048 |
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1766274447874981888 |