Corrected ICESat altimetry data, surface mass balance, and firn elevation change on Antarctic ice shelves
Accurate prediction of global sea-level rise requires that we understand the cause of recent, widespread and intensifying glacier acceleration along Antarctic ice-sheet coastal margins. Floating ice shelves buttress the flow of grounded tributary glaciers and their thickness and extent are particula...
Main Authors: | , , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Dataset |
Language: | English |
Published: |
PANGAEA
2012
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.775984 https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.775984 |
id |
ftpangaea:oai:pangaea.de:doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.775984 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftpangaea:oai:pangaea.de:doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.775984 2023-05-15T13:42:10+02:00 Corrected ICESat altimetry data, surface mass balance, and firn elevation change on Antarctic ice shelves Pritchard, Hamish D Ligtenberg, Stefan R M Fricker, Helen van den Broeke, Michiel R Vaughan, David G Padman, Laurie MEDIAN LATITUDE: -71.731111 * MEDIAN LONGITUDE: -173.453333 * SOUTH-BOUND LATITUDE: -80.800000 * WEST-BOUND LONGITUDE: 53.000000 * NORTH-BOUND LATITUDE: -66.300000 * EAST-BOUND LONGITUDE: -5.900000 2012-02-14 application/zip, 2 datasets https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.775984 https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.775984 en eng PANGAEA Pritchard, Hamish D; Ligtenberg, Stefan R M; Fricker, Helen; van den Broeke, Michiel R; Vaughan, David G; Padman, Laurie (2012): Antarctic ice sheet loss driven by basal melting of ice shelves. Nature, 484(7395), 502-505, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10968 https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.775984 https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.775984 CC-BY-3.0: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Access constraints: unrestricted info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess CC-BY ice2sea Dataset 2012 ftpangaea https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.775984 https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10968 2023-01-20T07:32:25Z Accurate prediction of global sea-level rise requires that we understand the cause of recent, widespread and intensifying glacier acceleration along Antarctic ice-sheet coastal margins. Floating ice shelves buttress the flow of grounded tributary glaciers and their thickness and extent are particularly susceptible to changes in both climate and ocean forcing. Recent ice-shelf collapse led to retreat and acceleration of several glaciers on the Antarctic Peninsula. However, the extent and magnitude of ice-shelf thickness change, its causes and its link to glacier flow rate are so poorly understood that its influence on the future of the ice sheets cannot yet be predicted. Here we use satellite laser altimetry and modelling of the surface firn layer to reveal for the first time the circum-Antarctic pattern of ice-shelf thinning through increased basal melt. We deduce that this increased melt is the primary driver of Antarctic ice-sheet loss, through a reduction in buttressing of the adjacent ice sheet that has led to accelerated glacier flow. The highest thinning rates (~7 m/a) occur where warm water at depth can access thick ice shelves via submarine troughs crossing the continental shelf. Wind forcing could explain the dominant patterns of both basal melting and the surface melting and collapse of Antarctic ice shelves, through ocean upwelling in the Amundsen and Bellingshausen Seas and atmospheric warming on the Antarctic Peninsula. This implies that climate forcing through changing winds influences Antarctic Ice Sheet mass balance, and hence global sea-level, on annual to decadal timescales. Dataset Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Ice Shelves PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Buttress ENVELOPE(-57.083,-57.083,-63.550,-63.550) The Antarctic ENVELOPE(53.000000,-5.900000,-66.300000,-80.800000) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science |
op_collection_id |
ftpangaea |
language |
English |
topic |
ice2sea |
spellingShingle |
ice2sea Pritchard, Hamish D Ligtenberg, Stefan R M Fricker, Helen van den Broeke, Michiel R Vaughan, David G Padman, Laurie Corrected ICESat altimetry data, surface mass balance, and firn elevation change on Antarctic ice shelves |
topic_facet |
ice2sea |
description |
Accurate prediction of global sea-level rise requires that we understand the cause of recent, widespread and intensifying glacier acceleration along Antarctic ice-sheet coastal margins. Floating ice shelves buttress the flow of grounded tributary glaciers and their thickness and extent are particularly susceptible to changes in both climate and ocean forcing. Recent ice-shelf collapse led to retreat and acceleration of several glaciers on the Antarctic Peninsula. However, the extent and magnitude of ice-shelf thickness change, its causes and its link to glacier flow rate are so poorly understood that its influence on the future of the ice sheets cannot yet be predicted. Here we use satellite laser altimetry and modelling of the surface firn layer to reveal for the first time the circum-Antarctic pattern of ice-shelf thinning through increased basal melt. We deduce that this increased melt is the primary driver of Antarctic ice-sheet loss, through a reduction in buttressing of the adjacent ice sheet that has led to accelerated glacier flow. The highest thinning rates (~7 m/a) occur where warm water at depth can access thick ice shelves via submarine troughs crossing the continental shelf. Wind forcing could explain the dominant patterns of both basal melting and the surface melting and collapse of Antarctic ice shelves, through ocean upwelling in the Amundsen and Bellingshausen Seas and atmospheric warming on the Antarctic Peninsula. This implies that climate forcing through changing winds influences Antarctic Ice Sheet mass balance, and hence global sea-level, on annual to decadal timescales. |
format |
Dataset |
author |
Pritchard, Hamish D Ligtenberg, Stefan R M Fricker, Helen van den Broeke, Michiel R Vaughan, David G Padman, Laurie |
author_facet |
Pritchard, Hamish D Ligtenberg, Stefan R M Fricker, Helen van den Broeke, Michiel R Vaughan, David G Padman, Laurie |
author_sort |
Pritchard, Hamish D |
title |
Corrected ICESat altimetry data, surface mass balance, and firn elevation change on Antarctic ice shelves |
title_short |
Corrected ICESat altimetry data, surface mass balance, and firn elevation change on Antarctic ice shelves |
title_full |
Corrected ICESat altimetry data, surface mass balance, and firn elevation change on Antarctic ice shelves |
title_fullStr |
Corrected ICESat altimetry data, surface mass balance, and firn elevation change on Antarctic ice shelves |
title_full_unstemmed |
Corrected ICESat altimetry data, surface mass balance, and firn elevation change on Antarctic ice shelves |
title_sort |
corrected icesat altimetry data, surface mass balance, and firn elevation change on antarctic ice shelves |
publisher |
PANGAEA |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.775984 https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.775984 |
op_coverage |
MEDIAN LATITUDE: -71.731111 * MEDIAN LONGITUDE: -173.453333 * SOUTH-BOUND LATITUDE: -80.800000 * WEST-BOUND LONGITUDE: 53.000000 * NORTH-BOUND LATITUDE: -66.300000 * EAST-BOUND LONGITUDE: -5.900000 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-57.083,-57.083,-63.550,-63.550) ENVELOPE(53.000000,-5.900000,-66.300000,-80.800000) |
geographic |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Buttress The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Buttress The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Ice Shelves |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Ice Shelves |
op_relation |
Pritchard, Hamish D; Ligtenberg, Stefan R M; Fricker, Helen; van den Broeke, Michiel R; Vaughan, David G; Padman, Laurie (2012): Antarctic ice sheet loss driven by basal melting of ice shelves. Nature, 484(7395), 502-505, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10968 https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.775984 https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.775984 |
op_rights |
CC-BY-3.0: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Access constraints: unrestricted info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.775984 https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10968 |
_version_ |
1766164191615385600 |