Low elevation of Svalbard glaciers drives high mass loss variability.
peer reviewed Compared to other Arctic ice masses, Svalbard glaciers are low-elevated with flat interior accumulation areas, resulting in a marked peak in their current hypsometry (area-elevation distribution) at ~450 m above sea level. Since summer melt consistently exceeds winter snowfall, these l...
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Online Access: | https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/301939 https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/301939/1/Noel_Ncomms_2020.pdf https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18356-1 |
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ftorbi:oai:orbi.ulg.ac.be:2268/301939 2024-04-21T08:12:32+00:00 Low elevation of Svalbard glaciers drives high mass loss variability. Noël, Brice Jakobs, C L van Pelt, W J J Lhermitte, S Wouters, B Kohler, J Hagen, J O Luks, B Reijmer, C H van de Berg, W J van den Broeke, M R 2020-09-14 https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/301939 https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/301939/1/Noel_Ncomms_2020.pdf https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18356-1 en eng Nature Research https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-18356-1.pdf urn:issn:2041-1723 https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/301939 info:hdl:2268/301939 https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/301939/1/Noel_Ncomms_2020.pdf doi:10.1038/s41467-020-18356-1 scopus-id:2-s2.0-85090968159 info:pmid:32929066 open access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Nature Communications, 11 (1), 4597 (2020-09-14) Chemistry (all) Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular Biology (all) Multidisciplinary Physics and Astronomy (all) General Physics and Astronomy General Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular Biology General Chemistry Physical chemical mathematical & earth Sciences Earth sciences & physical geography Physique chimie mathématiques & sciences de la terre Sciences de la terre & géographie physique journal article http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501 info:eu-repo/semantics/article peer reviewed 2020 ftorbi https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18356-1 2024-03-27T14:57:53Z peer reviewed Compared to other Arctic ice masses, Svalbard glaciers are low-elevated with flat interior accumulation areas, resulting in a marked peak in their current hypsometry (area-elevation distribution) at ~450 m above sea level. Since summer melt consistently exceeds winter snowfall, these low-lying glaciers can only survive by refreezing a considerable fraction of surface melt and rain in the porous firn layer covering their accumulation zones. We use a high-resolution climate model to show that modest atmospheric warming in the mid-1980s forced the firn zone to retreat upward by ~100 m to coincide with the hypsometry peak. This led to a rapid areal reduction of firn cover available for refreezing, and strongly increased runoff from dark, bare ice areas, amplifying mass loss from all elevations. As the firn line fluctuates around the hypsometry peak in the current climate, Svalbard glaciers will continue to lose mass and show high sensitivity to temperature perturbations. Article in Journal/Newspaper Svalbard University of Liège: ORBi (Open Repository and Bibliography) Nature Communications 11 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Liège: ORBi (Open Repository and Bibliography) |
op_collection_id |
ftorbi |
language |
English |
topic |
Chemistry (all) Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular Biology (all) Multidisciplinary Physics and Astronomy (all) General Physics and Astronomy General Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular Biology General Chemistry Physical chemical mathematical & earth Sciences Earth sciences & physical geography Physique chimie mathématiques & sciences de la terre Sciences de la terre & géographie physique |
spellingShingle |
Chemistry (all) Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular Biology (all) Multidisciplinary Physics and Astronomy (all) General Physics and Astronomy General Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular Biology General Chemistry Physical chemical mathematical & earth Sciences Earth sciences & physical geography Physique chimie mathématiques & sciences de la terre Sciences de la terre & géographie physique Noël, Brice Jakobs, C L van Pelt, W J J Lhermitte, S Wouters, B Kohler, J Hagen, J O Luks, B Reijmer, C H van de Berg, W J van den Broeke, M R Low elevation of Svalbard glaciers drives high mass loss variability. |
topic_facet |
Chemistry (all) Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular Biology (all) Multidisciplinary Physics and Astronomy (all) General Physics and Astronomy General Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular Biology General Chemistry Physical chemical mathematical & earth Sciences Earth sciences & physical geography Physique chimie mathématiques & sciences de la terre Sciences de la terre & géographie physique |
description |
peer reviewed Compared to other Arctic ice masses, Svalbard glaciers are low-elevated with flat interior accumulation areas, resulting in a marked peak in their current hypsometry (area-elevation distribution) at ~450 m above sea level. Since summer melt consistently exceeds winter snowfall, these low-lying glaciers can only survive by refreezing a considerable fraction of surface melt and rain in the porous firn layer covering their accumulation zones. We use a high-resolution climate model to show that modest atmospheric warming in the mid-1980s forced the firn zone to retreat upward by ~100 m to coincide with the hypsometry peak. This led to a rapid areal reduction of firn cover available for refreezing, and strongly increased runoff from dark, bare ice areas, amplifying mass loss from all elevations. As the firn line fluctuates around the hypsometry peak in the current climate, Svalbard glaciers will continue to lose mass and show high sensitivity to temperature perturbations. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Noël, Brice Jakobs, C L van Pelt, W J J Lhermitte, S Wouters, B Kohler, J Hagen, J O Luks, B Reijmer, C H van de Berg, W J van den Broeke, M R |
author_facet |
Noël, Brice Jakobs, C L van Pelt, W J J Lhermitte, S Wouters, B Kohler, J Hagen, J O Luks, B Reijmer, C H van de Berg, W J van den Broeke, M R |
author_sort |
Noël, Brice |
title |
Low elevation of Svalbard glaciers drives high mass loss variability. |
title_short |
Low elevation of Svalbard glaciers drives high mass loss variability. |
title_full |
Low elevation of Svalbard glaciers drives high mass loss variability. |
title_fullStr |
Low elevation of Svalbard glaciers drives high mass loss variability. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Low elevation of Svalbard glaciers drives high mass loss variability. |
title_sort |
low elevation of svalbard glaciers drives high mass loss variability. |
publisher |
Nature Research |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/301939 https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/301939/1/Noel_Ncomms_2020.pdf https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18356-1 |
genre |
Svalbard |
genre_facet |
Svalbard |
op_source |
Nature Communications, 11 (1), 4597 (2020-09-14) |
op_relation |
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-18356-1.pdf urn:issn:2041-1723 https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/301939 info:hdl:2268/301939 https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/301939/1/Noel_Ncomms_2020.pdf doi:10.1038/s41467-020-18356-1 scopus-id:2-s2.0-85090968159 info:pmid:32929066 |
op_rights |
open access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18356-1 |
container_title |
Nature Communications |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1796932627889913856 |