Constraining the recent mass balance of Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers, West Antarctica, with airborne observations of snow accumulation
In Antarctica, uncertainties in mass input and output translate directly into uncertainty in glacier mass balance and thus in sea level impact. While remotely sensed observations of ice velocity and thickness over the major outlet glaciers have improved our understanding of ice loss to the ocean, sn...
Published in: | The Cryosphere |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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Copernicus Publications
2014
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-1375-2014 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/8/1375/2014/tc-8-1375-2014.pdf https://doaj.org/article/2bd483aa3b2b4a9c9bc690290d96ddc3 |
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:doaj.org/article:2bd483aa3b2b4a9c9bc690290d96ddc3 2023-05-15T13:24:08+02:00 Constraining the recent mass balance of Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers, West Antarctica, with airborne observations of snow accumulation B. Medley I. Joughin B. E. Smith S. B. Das E. J. Steig H. Conway S. Gogineni C. Lewis A. S. Criscitiello J. R. McConnell M. R. van den Broeke J. T. M. Lenaerts D. H. Bromwich J. P. Nicolas C. Leuschen 2014-07-01 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-1375-2014 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/8/1375/2014/tc-8-1375-2014.pdf https://doaj.org/article/2bd483aa3b2b4a9c9bc690290d96ddc3 en eng Copernicus Publications 1994-0416 1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-8-1375-2014 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/8/1375/2014/tc-8-1375-2014.pdf https://doaj.org/article/2bd483aa3b2b4a9c9bc690290d96ddc3 undefined The Cryosphere, Vol 8, Iss 4, Pp 1375-1392 (2014) geo envir Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2014 fttriple https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-1375-2014 2023-01-22T17:52:59Z In Antarctica, uncertainties in mass input and output translate directly into uncertainty in glacier mass balance and thus in sea level impact. While remotely sensed observations of ice velocity and thickness over the major outlet glaciers have improved our understanding of ice loss to the ocean, snow accumulation over the vast Antarctic interior remains largely unmeasured. Here, we show that an airborne radar system, combined with ice-core glaciochemical analysis, provide the means necessary to measure the accumulation rate at the catchment-scale along the Amundsen Sea coast of West Antarctica. We used along-track radar-derived accumulation to generate a 1985–2009 average accumulation grid that resolves moderate- to large-scale features (>25 km) over the Pine Island–Thwaites glacier drainage system. Comparisons with estimates from atmospheric models and gridded climatologies generally show our results as having less accumulation in the lower-elevation coastal zone but greater accumulation in the interior. Ice discharge, measured over discrete time intervals between 1994 and 2012, combined with our catchment-wide accumulation rates provide an 18-year mass balance history for the sector. While Thwaites Glacier lost the most ice in the mid-1990s, Pine Island Glacier's losses increased substantially by 2006, overtaking Thwaites as the largest regional contributor to sea-level rise. The trend of increasing discharge for both glaciers, however, appears to have leveled off since 2008. Article in Journal/Newspaper Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica ice core Pine Island The Cryosphere Thwaites Glacier West Antarctica Unknown Amundsen Sea Antarctic Thwaites Glacier ENVELOPE(-106.750,-106.750,-75.500,-75.500) West Antarctica The Cryosphere 8 4 1375 1392 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Unknown |
op_collection_id |
fttriple |
language |
English |
topic |
geo envir |
spellingShingle |
geo envir B. Medley I. Joughin B. E. Smith S. B. Das E. J. Steig H. Conway S. Gogineni C. Lewis A. S. Criscitiello J. R. McConnell M. R. van den Broeke J. T. M. Lenaerts D. H. Bromwich J. P. Nicolas C. Leuschen Constraining the recent mass balance of Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers, West Antarctica, with airborne observations of snow accumulation |
topic_facet |
geo envir |
description |
In Antarctica, uncertainties in mass input and output translate directly into uncertainty in glacier mass balance and thus in sea level impact. While remotely sensed observations of ice velocity and thickness over the major outlet glaciers have improved our understanding of ice loss to the ocean, snow accumulation over the vast Antarctic interior remains largely unmeasured. Here, we show that an airborne radar system, combined with ice-core glaciochemical analysis, provide the means necessary to measure the accumulation rate at the catchment-scale along the Amundsen Sea coast of West Antarctica. We used along-track radar-derived accumulation to generate a 1985–2009 average accumulation grid that resolves moderate- to large-scale features (>25 km) over the Pine Island–Thwaites glacier drainage system. Comparisons with estimates from atmospheric models and gridded climatologies generally show our results as having less accumulation in the lower-elevation coastal zone but greater accumulation in the interior. Ice discharge, measured over discrete time intervals between 1994 and 2012, combined with our catchment-wide accumulation rates provide an 18-year mass balance history for the sector. While Thwaites Glacier lost the most ice in the mid-1990s, Pine Island Glacier's losses increased substantially by 2006, overtaking Thwaites as the largest regional contributor to sea-level rise. The trend of increasing discharge for both glaciers, however, appears to have leveled off since 2008. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
B. Medley I. Joughin B. E. Smith S. B. Das E. J. Steig H. Conway S. Gogineni C. Lewis A. S. Criscitiello J. R. McConnell M. R. van den Broeke J. T. M. Lenaerts D. H. Bromwich J. P. Nicolas C. Leuschen |
author_facet |
B. Medley I. Joughin B. E. Smith S. B. Das E. J. Steig H. Conway S. Gogineni C. Lewis A. S. Criscitiello J. R. McConnell M. R. van den Broeke J. T. M. Lenaerts D. H. Bromwich J. P. Nicolas C. Leuschen |
author_sort |
B. Medley |
title |
Constraining the recent mass balance of Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers, West Antarctica, with airborne observations of snow accumulation |
title_short |
Constraining the recent mass balance of Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers, West Antarctica, with airborne observations of snow accumulation |
title_full |
Constraining the recent mass balance of Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers, West Antarctica, with airborne observations of snow accumulation |
title_fullStr |
Constraining the recent mass balance of Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers, West Antarctica, with airborne observations of snow accumulation |
title_full_unstemmed |
Constraining the recent mass balance of Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers, West Antarctica, with airborne observations of snow accumulation |
title_sort |
constraining the recent mass balance of pine island and thwaites glaciers, west antarctica, with airborne observations of snow accumulation |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-1375-2014 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/8/1375/2014/tc-8-1375-2014.pdf https://doaj.org/article/2bd483aa3b2b4a9c9bc690290d96ddc3 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-106.750,-106.750,-75.500,-75.500) |
geographic |
Amundsen Sea Antarctic Thwaites Glacier West Antarctica |
geographic_facet |
Amundsen Sea Antarctic Thwaites Glacier West Antarctica |
genre |
Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica ice core Pine Island The Cryosphere Thwaites Glacier West Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica ice core Pine Island The Cryosphere Thwaites Glacier West Antarctica |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 8, Iss 4, Pp 1375-1392 (2014) |
op_relation |
1994-0416 1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-8-1375-2014 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/8/1375/2014/tc-8-1375-2014.pdf https://doaj.org/article/2bd483aa3b2b4a9c9bc690290d96ddc3 |
op_rights |
undefined |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-1375-2014 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
8 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
1375 |
op_container_end_page |
1392 |
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1766377602579169280 |