Climate sensitivity of the ice cap of King George Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica
A two-dimensional vertically integrated ice-flow model has been used to simulate the current state of the ice cap of King George Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica, as well as the sensitivity of this state to climate change. The model was forced by an energy-balance model that generates the...
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ftunivutrecht:oai:dspace.library.uu.nl:1874/23415 2023-07-23T04:15:35+02:00 Climate sensitivity of the ice cap of King George Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica Oerlemans, J. Knap, W.H. Cadée, M. 1996 image/pdf https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/23415 en eng 0260-3055 Print 1727-5644 Online https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/23415 info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess Natuur- en Sterrenkunde Article 1996 ftunivutrecht 2023-07-01T23:22:29Z A two-dimensional vertically integrated ice-flow model has been used to simulate the current state of the ice cap of King George Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica, as well as the sensitivity of this state to climate change. The model was forced by an energy-balance model that generates the specific mass balance from climatological input data of two research stations. It proved difficult to simulate satisfactorily the entire geometry of the present-day ice cap. Nevertheless, it was possible to simulate a steady-state ice cap whose volume and areal extent approximate the (estimated) current situation. Several experiments have indicated that this state is highly sensitive to climate change. The model predicts that cooling by l K will increase the ice volume by 10% and warming by l K will decrease it by 36%. A 10% change in precipitation will alter the ice volume by less than 8%. Application of the IPCC-90 Business-as-Usual scenario leads to a 55% reduction in the ice volume by the year AD 2100, compared to the present-day situation. The response of the ice cap to warming is therefore totally different from the response of the main Antarctic ice sheet which is believed to gain mass by increasing temperatures. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice cap Ice Sheet King George Island South Shetland Islands Utrecht University Repository Antarctic King George Island South Shetland Islands |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Utrecht University Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftunivutrecht |
language |
English |
topic |
Natuur- en Sterrenkunde |
spellingShingle |
Natuur- en Sterrenkunde Oerlemans, J. Knap, W.H. Cadée, M. Climate sensitivity of the ice cap of King George Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Natuur- en Sterrenkunde |
description |
A two-dimensional vertically integrated ice-flow model has been used to simulate the current state of the ice cap of King George Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica, as well as the sensitivity of this state to climate change. The model was forced by an energy-balance model that generates the specific mass balance from climatological input data of two research stations. It proved difficult to simulate satisfactorily the entire geometry of the present-day ice cap. Nevertheless, it was possible to simulate a steady-state ice cap whose volume and areal extent approximate the (estimated) current situation. Several experiments have indicated that this state is highly sensitive to climate change. The model predicts that cooling by l K will increase the ice volume by 10% and warming by l K will decrease it by 36%. A 10% change in precipitation will alter the ice volume by less than 8%. Application of the IPCC-90 Business-as-Usual scenario leads to a 55% reduction in the ice volume by the year AD 2100, compared to the present-day situation. The response of the ice cap to warming is therefore totally different from the response of the main Antarctic ice sheet which is believed to gain mass by increasing temperatures. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Oerlemans, J. Knap, W.H. Cadée, M. |
author_facet |
Oerlemans, J. Knap, W.H. Cadée, M. |
author_sort |
Oerlemans, J. |
title |
Climate sensitivity of the ice cap of King George Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica |
title_short |
Climate sensitivity of the ice cap of King George Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica |
title_full |
Climate sensitivity of the ice cap of King George Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Climate sensitivity of the ice cap of King George Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Climate sensitivity of the ice cap of King George Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica |
title_sort |
climate sensitivity of the ice cap of king george island, south shetland islands, antarctica |
publishDate |
1996 |
url |
https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/23415 |
geographic |
Antarctic King George Island South Shetland Islands |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic King George Island South Shetland Islands |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice cap Ice Sheet King George Island South Shetland Islands |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice cap Ice Sheet King George Island South Shetland Islands |
op_relation |
0260-3055 Print 1727-5644 Online https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/23415 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess |
_version_ |
1772176464523821056 |