Atmospheric forcing of rapid marine-terminating glacier retreat in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago
The Canadian Arctic Archipelago contains >300 glaciers that terminate in the ocean, but little is known about changes in their frontal positions in response to recent changes in the ocean-climate system. Here, we examine changes in glacier frontal positions since the 1950s and investigate the rel...
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10393/38955 https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aau8507 |
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ftunivottawa:oai:ruor.uottawa.ca:10393/38955 2023-05-15T14:28:41+02:00 Atmospheric forcing of rapid marine-terminating glacier retreat in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago Cook, Alison J. Copland, Luke Noël, Brice P. Y. Stokes, Chris R. Bentley, Michael J. Sharp, Martin J. Bingham, Robert G. van den Broeke, Michiel R. 2019 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/10393/38955 https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aau8507 en eng 2375-2548 http://hdl.handle.net/10393/38955 doi:10.1126/sciadv.aau8507 Article 2019 ftunivottawa https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aau8507 2021-01-04T14:36:24Z The Canadian Arctic Archipelago contains >300 glaciers that terminate in the ocean, but little is known about changes in their frontal positions in response to recent changes in the ocean-climate system. Here, we examine changes in glacier frontal positions since the 1950s and investigate the relative influence of oceanic temperature versus atmospheric temperature. Over 94% of glaciers retreated between 1958 and 2015, with a region-wide trend of gradual retreat before ~2000, followed by a fivefold increase in retreat rates up to 2015. Retreat patterns show no correlation with changes in subsurface ocean temperatures, in clear contrast to the dominance of ocean forcing in western Greenland and elsewhere. Rather, significant correlations with surface melt indicate that increased atmospheric temperature has been the primary driver of the acceleration in marine-terminating glacier frontal retreat in this region. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Archipelago Arctic Canadian Arctic Archipelago glacier Greenland uO Research (University of Ottawa - uOttawa) Arctic Canadian Arctic Archipelago Greenland Science Advances 5 3 eaau8507 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
uO Research (University of Ottawa - uOttawa) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivottawa |
language |
English |
description |
The Canadian Arctic Archipelago contains >300 glaciers that terminate in the ocean, but little is known about changes in their frontal positions in response to recent changes in the ocean-climate system. Here, we examine changes in glacier frontal positions since the 1950s and investigate the relative influence of oceanic temperature versus atmospheric temperature. Over 94% of glaciers retreated between 1958 and 2015, with a region-wide trend of gradual retreat before ~2000, followed by a fivefold increase in retreat rates up to 2015. Retreat patterns show no correlation with changes in subsurface ocean temperatures, in clear contrast to the dominance of ocean forcing in western Greenland and elsewhere. Rather, significant correlations with surface melt indicate that increased atmospheric temperature has been the primary driver of the acceleration in marine-terminating glacier frontal retreat in this region. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Cook, Alison J. Copland, Luke Noël, Brice P. Y. Stokes, Chris R. Bentley, Michael J. Sharp, Martin J. Bingham, Robert G. van den Broeke, Michiel R. |
spellingShingle |
Cook, Alison J. Copland, Luke Noël, Brice P. Y. Stokes, Chris R. Bentley, Michael J. Sharp, Martin J. Bingham, Robert G. van den Broeke, Michiel R. Atmospheric forcing of rapid marine-terminating glacier retreat in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago |
author_facet |
Cook, Alison J. Copland, Luke Noël, Brice P. Y. Stokes, Chris R. Bentley, Michael J. Sharp, Martin J. Bingham, Robert G. van den Broeke, Michiel R. |
author_sort |
Cook, Alison J. |
title |
Atmospheric forcing of rapid marine-terminating glacier retreat in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago |
title_short |
Atmospheric forcing of rapid marine-terminating glacier retreat in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago |
title_full |
Atmospheric forcing of rapid marine-terminating glacier retreat in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago |
title_fullStr |
Atmospheric forcing of rapid marine-terminating glacier retreat in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago |
title_full_unstemmed |
Atmospheric forcing of rapid marine-terminating glacier retreat in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago |
title_sort |
atmospheric forcing of rapid marine-terminating glacier retreat in the canadian arctic archipelago |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10393/38955 https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aau8507 |
geographic |
Arctic Canadian Arctic Archipelago Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Canadian Arctic Archipelago Greenland |
genre |
Arctic Archipelago Arctic Canadian Arctic Archipelago glacier Greenland |
genre_facet |
Arctic Archipelago Arctic Canadian Arctic Archipelago glacier Greenland |
op_relation |
2375-2548 http://hdl.handle.net/10393/38955 doi:10.1126/sciadv.aau8507 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aau8507 |
container_title |
Science Advances |
container_volume |
5 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
eaau8507 |
_version_ |
1766302848858980352 |