Surface velocity and mass balance of Livingston Island ice cap, Antarctica
The mass budget of the ice caps surrounding the Antarctica Peninsula and, in particular, the partitioning of its main components are poorly known. Here we approximate frontal ablation (i.e. the sum of mass losses by calving and submarine melt) and surface mass balance of the ice cap of Livingston Is...
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Uppsala universitet, Luft-, vatten- och landskapslära
2014
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ftuppsalauniv:oai:DiVA.org:uu-239714 2023-05-15T14:00:26+02:00 Surface velocity and mass balance of Livingston Island ice cap, Antarctica Osmanoglu, B. Navarro, F. J. Hock, Regine Braun, M. Corcuera, M. I. 2014 application/pdf http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-239714 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-1807-2014 eng eng Uppsala universitet, Luft-, vatten- och landskapslära The Cryosphere, 1994-0416, 2014, 8:5, s. 1807-1823 http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-239714 doi:10.5194/tc-8-1807-2014 ISI:000344728900014 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Geology Geologi Article in journal info:eu-repo/semantics/article text 2014 ftuppsalauniv https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-1807-2014 2023-02-23T21:52:07Z The mass budget of the ice caps surrounding the Antarctica Peninsula and, in particular, the partitioning of its main components are poorly known. Here we approximate frontal ablation (i.e. the sum of mass losses by calving and submarine melt) and surface mass balance of the ice cap of Livingston Island, the second largest island in the South Shetland Islands archipelago, and analyse variations in surface velocity for the period 2007-2011. Velocities are obtained from feature tracking using 25 PALSAR-1 images, and used in conjunction with estimates of glacier ice thicknesses inferred from principles of glacier dynamics and ground-penetrating radar observations to estimate frontal ablation rates by a flux-gate approach. Glacier-wide surface mass-balance rates are approximated from in situ observations on two glaciers of the ice cap. Within the limitations of the large uncertainties mostly due to unknown ice thicknesses at the flux gates, we find that frontal ablation (-509 +/- 263 Mt yr(-1), equivalent to -0.73 +/- 0.38 m w.e. yr(-1) over the ice cap area of 697 km(2)) and surface ablation (- 0.73 +/- 0.10 m w.e. yr(-1)) contribute similar shares to total ablation (-1.46 +/- 0.39 m w. e. yr(-1)). Total mass change ( delta M = - 0.67 +/- 0.40 m w.e. yr(-1)) is negative despite a slightly positive surface mass balance (0.06 +/- 0.14 m w .e. yr(-1)). We find large interannual and, for some basins, pronounced seasonal variations in surface velocities at the flux gates, with higher velocities in summer than in winter. Associated variations in frontal ablation ( of similar to 237 Mt yr(-1); -0.34 m w.e. yr(-1)) highlight the importance of taking into account the seasonality in ice velocities when computing frontal ablation with a flux-gate approach. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica Ice cap Livingston Island South Shetland Islands The Cryosphere Uppsala University: Publications (DiVA) Livingston Island ENVELOPE(-60.500,-60.500,-62.600,-62.600) South Shetland Islands The Cryosphere 8 5 1807 1823 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Uppsala University: Publications (DiVA) |
op_collection_id |
ftuppsalauniv |
language |
English |
topic |
Geology Geologi |
spellingShingle |
Geology Geologi Osmanoglu, B. Navarro, F. J. Hock, Regine Braun, M. Corcuera, M. I. Surface velocity and mass balance of Livingston Island ice cap, Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Geology Geologi |
description |
The mass budget of the ice caps surrounding the Antarctica Peninsula and, in particular, the partitioning of its main components are poorly known. Here we approximate frontal ablation (i.e. the sum of mass losses by calving and submarine melt) and surface mass balance of the ice cap of Livingston Island, the second largest island in the South Shetland Islands archipelago, and analyse variations in surface velocity for the period 2007-2011. Velocities are obtained from feature tracking using 25 PALSAR-1 images, and used in conjunction with estimates of glacier ice thicknesses inferred from principles of glacier dynamics and ground-penetrating radar observations to estimate frontal ablation rates by a flux-gate approach. Glacier-wide surface mass-balance rates are approximated from in situ observations on two glaciers of the ice cap. Within the limitations of the large uncertainties mostly due to unknown ice thicknesses at the flux gates, we find that frontal ablation (-509 +/- 263 Mt yr(-1), equivalent to -0.73 +/- 0.38 m w.e. yr(-1) over the ice cap area of 697 km(2)) and surface ablation (- 0.73 +/- 0.10 m w.e. yr(-1)) contribute similar shares to total ablation (-1.46 +/- 0.39 m w. e. yr(-1)). Total mass change ( delta M = - 0.67 +/- 0.40 m w.e. yr(-1)) is negative despite a slightly positive surface mass balance (0.06 +/- 0.14 m w .e. yr(-1)). We find large interannual and, for some basins, pronounced seasonal variations in surface velocities at the flux gates, with higher velocities in summer than in winter. Associated variations in frontal ablation ( of similar to 237 Mt yr(-1); -0.34 m w.e. yr(-1)) highlight the importance of taking into account the seasonality in ice velocities when computing frontal ablation with a flux-gate approach. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Osmanoglu, B. Navarro, F. J. Hock, Regine Braun, M. Corcuera, M. I. |
author_facet |
Osmanoglu, B. Navarro, F. J. Hock, Regine Braun, M. Corcuera, M. I. |
author_sort |
Osmanoglu, B. |
title |
Surface velocity and mass balance of Livingston Island ice cap, Antarctica |
title_short |
Surface velocity and mass balance of Livingston Island ice cap, Antarctica |
title_full |
Surface velocity and mass balance of Livingston Island ice cap, Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Surface velocity and mass balance of Livingston Island ice cap, Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Surface velocity and mass balance of Livingston Island ice cap, Antarctica |
title_sort |
surface velocity and mass balance of livingston island ice cap, antarctica |
publisher |
Uppsala universitet, Luft-, vatten- och landskapslära |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-239714 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-1807-2014 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-60.500,-60.500,-62.600,-62.600) |
geographic |
Livingston Island South Shetland Islands |
geographic_facet |
Livingston Island South Shetland Islands |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica Ice cap Livingston Island South Shetland Islands The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica Ice cap Livingston Island South Shetland Islands The Cryosphere |
op_relation |
The Cryosphere, 1994-0416, 2014, 8:5, s. 1807-1823 http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-239714 doi:10.5194/tc-8-1807-2014 ISI:000344728900014 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-1807-2014 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
8 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
1807 |
op_container_end_page |
1823 |
_version_ |
1766269526710681600 |