Mass Loss of Larsen B Tributary Glaciers (Antarctic Peninsula) Unabated Since 2002

• Main Authors: Berthier, Etienne, Scambos, Ted, Shuman, Christopher A.
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: Meteorology and Climatology; Geosciences (General); Earth Resources and Remote Sensing; Antarctic; Antarctic Peninsula; Crane Glacier; Antarc*; Ice Shelf
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20140008936

Ice mass loss continues at a high rate among the large glacier tributaries of the Larsen B Ice Shelf following its disintegration in 2002. We evaluate recent mass loss by mapping elevation changes between 2006 and 201011 using differencing of digital elevation models (DEMs). The measurement accuracy of these elevation changes is confirmed by a null test, subtracting DEMs acquired within a few weeks. The overall 2006201011 mass loss rate (9.0 2.1 Gt a-1) is similar to the 2001022006 rate (8.8 1.6 Gt a-1), derived using DEM differencing and laser altimetry. This unchanged overall loss masks a varying pattern of thinning and ice loss for individual glacier basins. On Crane Glacier, the thinning pulse, initially greatest near the calving front, is now broadening and migrating upstream. The largest losses are now observed for the HektoriaGreen glacier basin, having increased by 33 since 2006. Our method has enabled us to resolve large residual uncertainties in the Larsen B sector and confirm its state of ongoing rapid mass loss.