Rapid Surface Lowering of Benito Glacier, Northern Patagonian Icefield
Source at https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2018.00047 . The Patagonian Icefields, which straddle the Andes below 46°S, are two of the most sensitive ice masses on Earth to climate change. However, recent mass loss from the icefields along with its spatial and temporal variability is not well-constraine...
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ftunivtroemsoe:oai:munin.uit.no:10037/13368 2023-05-15T14:26:58+02:00 Rapid Surface Lowering of Benito Glacier, Northern Patagonian Icefield Ryan, Jonathan C. Sessions, Martin Wilson, Ryan Wündrich, Olaf Hubbard, Alun L. 2018-05-01 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/13368 https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2018.00047 eng eng Frontiers in Earth Science info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/RCN/SFF/223259/Norway/Centre for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate/CAGE/. Ryan, J.C., Sessions, M., Wilson, R., Wündrich, O. & Hubbard, A. (2018). Rapid Surface Lowering of Benito Glacier, Northern Patagonian Icefield. Frontiers in Earth Science, 6(47), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2018.00047. FRIDAID 1583534 doi:10.3389/feart.2018.00047 2296-6463 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/13368 openAccess VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Geofag: 450::Kvartærgeologi glasiologi: 465 VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Geosciences: 450::Quaternary geology glaciology: 465 Northern Patagonian Icefield Patagonia Mountain glaciers Climate change Remote sensing Surface mass balance Surface lowering GPS Journal article Tidsskriftartikkel Peer reviewed 2018 ftunivtroemsoe https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2018.00047 2021-06-25T17:55:55Z Source at https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2018.00047 . The Patagonian Icefields, which straddle the Andes below 46°S, are two of the most sensitive ice masses on Earth to climate change. However, recent mass loss from the icefields along with its spatial and temporal variability is not well-constrained. Here we determine surface elevation changes of Benito Glacier, a 163 km2 outlet glacier draining the western flank of the North Patagonian Icefield, using a combination of field and satellite-derived elevation data acquired between 1973 and 2017. Our results demonstrate that just below the equilibrium line the glacier dramatically thinned by 133 m in the past 44 years, equivalent to a mean rate of 3.0 ± 0.2 m a−1. We also find that surface lowering was temporally variable, characterized by a hiatus between 2000 and 2013, and a subsequent increase up to 7.7 ± 3.0 m a−1 between 2013 and 2017. Analysis of Benito Glacier's flow regime throughout the period indicates that the observed surface lowering was caused by negative surface mass balance, rather than dynamic thinning. The high rate of surface lowering observed over the past half a decade highlights the extreme sensitivity of mid-latitude glaciers to recent atmospheric forcing. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive Patagonia Frontiers in Earth Science 6 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtroemsoe |
language |
English |
topic |
VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Geofag: 450::Kvartærgeologi glasiologi: 465 VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Geosciences: 450::Quaternary geology glaciology: 465 Northern Patagonian Icefield Patagonia Mountain glaciers Climate change Remote sensing Surface mass balance Surface lowering GPS |
spellingShingle |
VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Geofag: 450::Kvartærgeologi glasiologi: 465 VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Geosciences: 450::Quaternary geology glaciology: 465 Northern Patagonian Icefield Patagonia Mountain glaciers Climate change Remote sensing Surface mass balance Surface lowering GPS Ryan, Jonathan C. Sessions, Martin Wilson, Ryan Wündrich, Olaf Hubbard, Alun L. Rapid Surface Lowering of Benito Glacier, Northern Patagonian Icefield |
topic_facet |
VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Geofag: 450::Kvartærgeologi glasiologi: 465 VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Geosciences: 450::Quaternary geology glaciology: 465 Northern Patagonian Icefield Patagonia Mountain glaciers Climate change Remote sensing Surface mass balance Surface lowering GPS |
description |
Source at https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2018.00047 . The Patagonian Icefields, which straddle the Andes below 46°S, are two of the most sensitive ice masses on Earth to climate change. However, recent mass loss from the icefields along with its spatial and temporal variability is not well-constrained. Here we determine surface elevation changes of Benito Glacier, a 163 km2 outlet glacier draining the western flank of the North Patagonian Icefield, using a combination of field and satellite-derived elevation data acquired between 1973 and 2017. Our results demonstrate that just below the equilibrium line the glacier dramatically thinned by 133 m in the past 44 years, equivalent to a mean rate of 3.0 ± 0.2 m a−1. We also find that surface lowering was temporally variable, characterized by a hiatus between 2000 and 2013, and a subsequent increase up to 7.7 ± 3.0 m a−1 between 2013 and 2017. Analysis of Benito Glacier's flow regime throughout the period indicates that the observed surface lowering was caused by negative surface mass balance, rather than dynamic thinning. The high rate of surface lowering observed over the past half a decade highlights the extreme sensitivity of mid-latitude glaciers to recent atmospheric forcing. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ryan, Jonathan C. Sessions, Martin Wilson, Ryan Wündrich, Olaf Hubbard, Alun L. |
author_facet |
Ryan, Jonathan C. Sessions, Martin Wilson, Ryan Wündrich, Olaf Hubbard, Alun L. |
author_sort |
Ryan, Jonathan C. |
title |
Rapid Surface Lowering of Benito Glacier, Northern Patagonian Icefield |
title_short |
Rapid Surface Lowering of Benito Glacier, Northern Patagonian Icefield |
title_full |
Rapid Surface Lowering of Benito Glacier, Northern Patagonian Icefield |
title_fullStr |
Rapid Surface Lowering of Benito Glacier, Northern Patagonian Icefield |
title_full_unstemmed |
Rapid Surface Lowering of Benito Glacier, Northern Patagonian Icefield |
title_sort |
rapid surface lowering of benito glacier, northern patagonian icefield |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10037/13368 https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2018.00047 |
geographic |
Patagonia |
geographic_facet |
Patagonia |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_relation |
Frontiers in Earth Science info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/RCN/SFF/223259/Norway/Centre for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate/CAGE/. Ryan, J.C., Sessions, M., Wilson, R., Wündrich, O. & Hubbard, A. (2018). Rapid Surface Lowering of Benito Glacier, Northern Patagonian Icefield. Frontiers in Earth Science, 6(47), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2018.00047. FRIDAID 1583534 doi:10.3389/feart.2018.00047 2296-6463 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/13368 |
op_rights |
openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2018.00047 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Earth Science |
container_volume |
6 |
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1766300517681594368 |