Satellite remote sensing of supraglacial lakes in East Antarctica
Developing accurate projections of ice-sheet responses to climate change remains a key scientific challenge. Understanding the controls on the distribution and evolution of surface meltwater around the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) and its impacts on ice dynamics is critical for improving model predicti...
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ftunidurhamethes:oai:etheses.dur.ac.uk:14543 2023-05-15T14:04:17+02:00 Satellite remote sensing of supraglacial lakes in East Antarctica ARTHUR, JENNIFER 2022 application/pdf http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/14543/ http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/14543/1/Jennifer_Arthur_PhD_Thesis.pdf unknown oai:etheses.dur.ac.uk:14543 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/14543/1/Jennifer_Arthur_PhD_Thesis.pdf ARTHUR, JENNIFER (2022) Satellite remote sensing of supraglacial lakes in East Antarctica. Doctoral thesis, Durham University. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/14543/ supraglacial lakes Antarctic remote sensing surface hydrology ice shelves mass balance climate Thesis NonPeerReviewed 2022 ftunidurhamethes 2022-09-23T14:17:50Z Developing accurate projections of ice-sheet responses to climate change remains a key scientific challenge. Understanding the controls on the distribution and evolution of surface meltwater around the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) and its impacts on ice dynamics is critical for improving model predictions of AIS contributions to global mean sea-level rise. This thesis aims to better quantify the current controls on the distribution and evolution of supraglacial lakes (SGLs) on the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) and their potential impact on ice-sheet mass balance and dynamics. The thesis begins with a review of recent advances in our understanding of SGLs in Antarctica, aided by developments in satellite remote sensing. Seasonal SGL evolution is then examined on the Shackleton Ice Shelf, chosen for its potential vulnerability to future surface meltwater-induced disintegration. Seasonal lake variability on this ice shelf is sensitive to snowmelt intensity associated with katabatic wind-driven melting. The role of SGLs in the rapid disaggregation of the Voyeykov Ice Shelf is then determined. It is shown the weakening and removal of stabilising ice m\'elange and multiyear landfast sea ice triggered this event, rather than surface meltwater. This implies that lakes are not always a necessary precursor of ice-shelf collapse. The first pan-ice-sheet observations of SGLs around the entire EAIS periphery over seven consecutive melt seasons (2014-2020) reveal SGL area and volume are highly variable on interannual timescales and are asynchronous between ice shelves. Climatic and surface controls on this interannual variability are explored, revealing significant relationships with modelled summer surface melt and runoff on some ice shelves deemed vulnerable to hydrofracture. Together, these findings represent novel observations of SGL evolution and the controls on interannual SGL variability around the EAIS. Using these observations in future ice-shelf models will help improve representation of the complex relationships ... Thesis Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Sea ice Shackleton Ice Shelf Voyeykov Ice Shelf Durham University: Durham e-Theses Antarctic East Antarctic Ice Sheet East Antarctica Shackleton Shackleton Ice Shelf ENVELOPE(100.504,100.504,-65.996,-65.996) The Antarctic Voyeykov Ice Shelf ENVELOPE(124.633,124.633,-66.333,-66.333) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Durham University: Durham e-Theses |
op_collection_id |
ftunidurhamethes |
language |
unknown |
topic |
supraglacial lakes Antarctic remote sensing surface hydrology ice shelves mass balance climate |
spellingShingle |
supraglacial lakes Antarctic remote sensing surface hydrology ice shelves mass balance climate ARTHUR, JENNIFER Satellite remote sensing of supraglacial lakes in East Antarctica |
topic_facet |
supraglacial lakes Antarctic remote sensing surface hydrology ice shelves mass balance climate |
description |
Developing accurate projections of ice-sheet responses to climate change remains a key scientific challenge. Understanding the controls on the distribution and evolution of surface meltwater around the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) and its impacts on ice dynamics is critical for improving model predictions of AIS contributions to global mean sea-level rise. This thesis aims to better quantify the current controls on the distribution and evolution of supraglacial lakes (SGLs) on the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) and their potential impact on ice-sheet mass balance and dynamics. The thesis begins with a review of recent advances in our understanding of SGLs in Antarctica, aided by developments in satellite remote sensing. Seasonal SGL evolution is then examined on the Shackleton Ice Shelf, chosen for its potential vulnerability to future surface meltwater-induced disintegration. Seasonal lake variability on this ice shelf is sensitive to snowmelt intensity associated with katabatic wind-driven melting. The role of SGLs in the rapid disaggregation of the Voyeykov Ice Shelf is then determined. It is shown the weakening and removal of stabilising ice m\'elange and multiyear landfast sea ice triggered this event, rather than surface meltwater. This implies that lakes are not always a necessary precursor of ice-shelf collapse. The first pan-ice-sheet observations of SGLs around the entire EAIS periphery over seven consecutive melt seasons (2014-2020) reveal SGL area and volume are highly variable on interannual timescales and are asynchronous between ice shelves. Climatic and surface controls on this interannual variability are explored, revealing significant relationships with modelled summer surface melt and runoff on some ice shelves deemed vulnerable to hydrofracture. Together, these findings represent novel observations of SGL evolution and the controls on interannual SGL variability around the EAIS. Using these observations in future ice-shelf models will help improve representation of the complex relationships ... |
format |
Thesis |
author |
ARTHUR, JENNIFER |
author_facet |
ARTHUR, JENNIFER |
author_sort |
ARTHUR, JENNIFER |
title |
Satellite remote sensing of supraglacial lakes in East Antarctica |
title_short |
Satellite remote sensing of supraglacial lakes in East Antarctica |
title_full |
Satellite remote sensing of supraglacial lakes in East Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Satellite remote sensing of supraglacial lakes in East Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Satellite remote sensing of supraglacial lakes in East Antarctica |
title_sort |
satellite remote sensing of supraglacial lakes in east antarctica |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/14543/ http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/14543/1/Jennifer_Arthur_PhD_Thesis.pdf |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(100.504,100.504,-65.996,-65.996) ENVELOPE(124.633,124.633,-66.333,-66.333) |
geographic |
Antarctic East Antarctic Ice Sheet East Antarctica Shackleton Shackleton Ice Shelf The Antarctic Voyeykov Ice Shelf |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic East Antarctic Ice Sheet East Antarctica Shackleton Shackleton Ice Shelf The Antarctic Voyeykov Ice Shelf |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Sea ice Shackleton Ice Shelf Voyeykov Ice Shelf |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Sea ice Shackleton Ice Shelf Voyeykov Ice Shelf |
op_relation |
oai:etheses.dur.ac.uk:14543 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/14543/1/Jennifer_Arthur_PhD_Thesis.pdf ARTHUR, JENNIFER (2022) Satellite remote sensing of supraglacial lakes in East Antarctica. Doctoral thesis, Durham University. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/14543/ |
_version_ |
1766275323853275136 |