Increased ice loading in the Antarctic Peninsula since the 1850s and its effect on glacial isostatic adjustment

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: Nield, GA, Whitehouse, PL, King, MA, Clarke, PJ, Bentley, MJ
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Amer Geophysical Union 2012
• Subjects: Earth Sciences; Geophysics; Geodesy; Antarctic; Antarctic Peninsula; The Antarctic; Antarc*; ice core; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1029/2012GL052559; http://ecite.utas.edu.au/89651

Antarctic Peninsula (AP) ice core records indicate significantaccumulation increase since 1855, and any resultantice mass increase has the potential to contribute substantiallyto present-day glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA). We deriveempirical orthogonal functions from climate model outputto infer typical spatial patterns of accumulation over the APand, by combining with ice core records, estimate annualaccumulation for the period 1855-2010. In response to thisaccumulation history, high resolution ice-sheet modelingpredicts ice thickness increases of up to 45 m, with thegreatest thickening in the northern and western AP. Whilstthis thickening is predicted to affect GRACE estimates by nomore than 6.2 Gt/yr, it may contribute up to -7 mm/yr to thepresent-day GIA uplift rate, depending on the chosen Earthmodel, with a strong east-west gradient across the AP. Itsconsideration is therefore critical to the interpretation ofobserved GPS velocities in the AP