King George Island glacier dynamics: glacial discharge measurements at station CPE-KG-62°S (2002-2010)

• Main Authors: Domínguez, Maria del Carmen, Eraso, Adolfo
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2010
• Subjects: Carlini/Jubany Station; CPE-KG-62°S; Glaciares; Criokarst y Medio Ambiente; Glacier_discharge; GLACKMA; IMCOAST/IMCONet; Impact of climate induced glacier melt on marine coastal systems; Antarctica; King George Island; Antarctic Peninsula; Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.745588; https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.745588

One of the areas on Earth where more significant effects of the Global Warming are being found is the area of the Peninsular and Insular Antarctic, between latitudes 62° - 63° S. And in this part we have located one of the register stations of glacier discharge within the GLACKMA Project, the one called CPE-KG-62°S, in the Collins icecap in the King George Island. The time series of glacier discharge obtained during these last years shows that differential aspects in the habit of its annual hydrograph are beginning to become evident. The glacier is losing characteristics typical of subpolar glaciers and beginning to show some more typical of temperate glaciers. In addition, with the generated time series of glacier discharge, it has been possible to register how the discharge wave begins earlier every year and ending later, increasing therefore the number of days that the discharge lasts every year. Discharged volume also increases in a significant way. Besides these data obtained from the recorded time series, from January, 2001, very significant qualitative changes in the glacier catchment area have been observed: increase in the speed of glacier sliding, increase in the fragile answer of the glacier ice, appearance of new moulins and appearance of new cracks and faster evolution of the existing ones.