Glacier change along West Antarctica's Marie Byrd Land Sector and links to inter-decadal atmosphere–ocean variability
Over the past 20 years satellite remote sensing has captured significant downwasting of glaciers that drain the West Antarctic Ice Sheet into the ocean, particularly across the Amundsen Sea Sector. Along the neighbouring Marie Byrd Land Sector, situated west of Thwaites Glacier to Ross Ice Shelf, gl...
Published in: | The Cryosphere |
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Copernicus Publications
2018
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2461-2018 https://www.the-cryosphere.net/12/2461/2018/tc-12-2461-2018.pdf https://doaj.org/article/9af4f5e4fe36428489f199f263b0df11 |
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:doaj.org/article:9af4f5e4fe36428489f199f263b0df11 2023-05-15T13:24:14+02:00 Glacier change along West Antarctica's Marie Byrd Land Sector and links to inter-decadal atmosphere–ocean variability F. D. W. Christie R. G. Bingham N. Gourmelen E. J. Steig R. R. Bisset H. D. Pritchard K. Snow S. F. B. Tett 2018-07-01 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2461-2018 https://www.the-cryosphere.net/12/2461/2018/tc-12-2461-2018.pdf https://doaj.org/article/9af4f5e4fe36428489f199f263b0df11 en eng Copernicus Publications doi:10.5194/tc-12-2461-2018 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://www.the-cryosphere.net/12/2461/2018/tc-12-2461-2018.pdf https://doaj.org/article/9af4f5e4fe36428489f199f263b0df11 undefined The Cryosphere, Vol 12, Pp 2461-2479 (2018) geo envir Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2018 fttriple https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2461-2018 2023-01-22T19:27:19Z Over the past 20 years satellite remote sensing has captured significant downwasting of glaciers that drain the West Antarctic Ice Sheet into the ocean, particularly across the Amundsen Sea Sector. Along the neighbouring Marie Byrd Land Sector, situated west of Thwaites Glacier to Ross Ice Shelf, glaciological change has been only sparsely monitored. Here, we use optical satellite imagery to track grounding-line migration along the Marie Byrd Land Sector between 2003 and 2015, and compare observed changes with ICESat and CryoSat-2-derived surface elevation and thickness change records. During the observational period, 33 % of the grounding line underwent retreat, with no significant advance recorded over the remainder of the ∼ 2200 km long coastline. The greatest retreat rates were observed along the 650 km-long Getz Ice Shelf, further west of which only minor retreat occurred. The relative glaciological stability west of Getz Ice Shelf can be attributed to a divergence of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current from the continental-shelf break at 135° W, coincident with a transition in the morphology of the continental shelf. Along Getz Ice Shelf, grounding-line retreat reduced by 68 % during the CryoSat-2 era relative to earlier observations. Climate reanalysis data imply that wind-driven upwelling of Circumpolar Deep Water would have been reduced during this later period, suggesting that the observed slowdown was a response to reduced oceanic forcing. However, lack of comprehensive oceanographic and bathymetric information proximal to Getz Ice Shelf's grounding zone make it difficult to assess the role of intrinsic glacier dynamics, or more complex ice-sheet–ocean interactions, in moderating this slowdown. Collectively, our findings underscore the importance of spatial and inter-decadal variability in atmosphere and ocean interactions in moderating glaciological change around Antarctica. Article in Journal/Newspaper Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Getz Ice Shelf Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Marie Byrd Land Ross Ice Shelf The Cryosphere Thwaites Glacier Unknown Amundsen Sea Antarctic Byrd Getz ENVELOPE(-145.217,-145.217,-76.550,-76.550) Getz Ice Shelf ENVELOPE(-126.500,-126.500,-74.250,-74.250) Marie Byrd Land ENVELOPE(-130.000,-130.000,-78.000,-78.000) Ross Ice Shelf The Antarctic Thwaites Glacier ENVELOPE(-106.750,-106.750,-75.500,-75.500) West Antarctic Ice Sheet The Cryosphere 12 7 2461 2479 |
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geo envir F. D. W. Christie R. G. Bingham N. Gourmelen E. J. Steig R. R. Bisset H. D. Pritchard K. Snow S. F. B. Tett Glacier change along West Antarctica's Marie Byrd Land Sector and links to inter-decadal atmosphere–ocean variability |
topic_facet |
geo envir |
description |
Over the past 20 years satellite remote sensing has captured significant downwasting of glaciers that drain the West Antarctic Ice Sheet into the ocean, particularly across the Amundsen Sea Sector. Along the neighbouring Marie Byrd Land Sector, situated west of Thwaites Glacier to Ross Ice Shelf, glaciological change has been only sparsely monitored. Here, we use optical satellite imagery to track grounding-line migration along the Marie Byrd Land Sector between 2003 and 2015, and compare observed changes with ICESat and CryoSat-2-derived surface elevation and thickness change records. During the observational period, 33 % of the grounding line underwent retreat, with no significant advance recorded over the remainder of the ∼ 2200 km long coastline. The greatest retreat rates were observed along the 650 km-long Getz Ice Shelf, further west of which only minor retreat occurred. The relative glaciological stability west of Getz Ice Shelf can be attributed to a divergence of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current from the continental-shelf break at 135° W, coincident with a transition in the morphology of the continental shelf. Along Getz Ice Shelf, grounding-line retreat reduced by 68 % during the CryoSat-2 era relative to earlier observations. Climate reanalysis data imply that wind-driven upwelling of Circumpolar Deep Water would have been reduced during this later period, suggesting that the observed slowdown was a response to reduced oceanic forcing. However, lack of comprehensive oceanographic and bathymetric information proximal to Getz Ice Shelf's grounding zone make it difficult to assess the role of intrinsic glacier dynamics, or more complex ice-sheet–ocean interactions, in moderating this slowdown. Collectively, our findings underscore the importance of spatial and inter-decadal variability in atmosphere and ocean interactions in moderating glaciological change around Antarctica. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
F. D. W. Christie R. G. Bingham N. Gourmelen E. J. Steig R. R. Bisset H. D. Pritchard K. Snow S. F. B. Tett |
author_facet |
F. D. W. Christie R. G. Bingham N. Gourmelen E. J. Steig R. R. Bisset H. D. Pritchard K. Snow S. F. B. Tett |
author_sort |
F. D. W. Christie |
title |
Glacier change along West Antarctica's Marie Byrd Land Sector and links to inter-decadal atmosphere–ocean variability |
title_short |
Glacier change along West Antarctica's Marie Byrd Land Sector and links to inter-decadal atmosphere–ocean variability |
title_full |
Glacier change along West Antarctica's Marie Byrd Land Sector and links to inter-decadal atmosphere–ocean variability |
title_fullStr |
Glacier change along West Antarctica's Marie Byrd Land Sector and links to inter-decadal atmosphere–ocean variability |
title_full_unstemmed |
Glacier change along West Antarctica's Marie Byrd Land Sector and links to inter-decadal atmosphere–ocean variability |
title_sort |
glacier change along west antarctica's marie byrd land sector and links to inter-decadal atmosphere–ocean variability |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2461-2018 https://www.the-cryosphere.net/12/2461/2018/tc-12-2461-2018.pdf https://doaj.org/article/9af4f5e4fe36428489f199f263b0df11 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-145.217,-145.217,-76.550,-76.550) ENVELOPE(-126.500,-126.500,-74.250,-74.250) ENVELOPE(-130.000,-130.000,-78.000,-78.000) ENVELOPE(-106.750,-106.750,-75.500,-75.500) |
geographic |
Amundsen Sea Antarctic Byrd Getz Getz Ice Shelf Marie Byrd Land Ross Ice Shelf The Antarctic Thwaites Glacier West Antarctic Ice Sheet |
geographic_facet |
Amundsen Sea Antarctic Byrd Getz Getz Ice Shelf Marie Byrd Land Ross Ice Shelf The Antarctic Thwaites Glacier West Antarctic Ice Sheet |
genre |
Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Getz Ice Shelf Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Marie Byrd Land Ross Ice Shelf The Cryosphere Thwaites Glacier |
genre_facet |
Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Getz Ice Shelf Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Marie Byrd Land Ross Ice Shelf The Cryosphere Thwaites Glacier |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 12, Pp 2461-2479 (2018) |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/tc-12-2461-2018 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://www.the-cryosphere.net/12/2461/2018/tc-12-2461-2018.pdf https://doaj.org/article/9af4f5e4fe36428489f199f263b0df11 |
op_rights |
undefined |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2461-2018 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
12 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
2461 |
op_container_end_page |
2479 |
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1766378171804942336 |