DOI: 10.5194/tc-9-1005-2015
Scopus记录号: 2-s2.0-84929319628
论文题名: Oceanic and atmospheric forcing of Larsen C Ice-Shelf thinning
作者: Holland P ; R ; , Brisbourne A ; , Corr H ; F ; J ; , McGrath D ; , Purdon K ; , Paden J ; , Fricker H ; A ; , Paolo F ; S ; , Fleming A ; H
刊名: Cryosphere
ISSN: 19940416
出版年: 2015
卷: 9, 期: 3 起始页码: 1005
结束页码: 1024
语种: 英语
英文关键词: Antarctic Bottom Water
; atmospheric forcing
; compaction
; ice thickness
; melting
; radar
; shelf dynamics
; Antarctic Peninsula
; Antarctica
; Larsen Ice Shelf
; West Antarctica
英文摘要: The catastrophic collapses of Larsen A and B ice shelves on the eastern Antarctic Peninsula have caused their tributary glaciers to accelerate, contributing to sea-level rise and freshening the Antarctic Bottom Water formed nearby. The surface of Larsen C Ice Shelf (LCIS), the largest ice shelf on the peninsula, is lowering. This could be caused by unbalanced ocean melting (ice loss) or enhanced firn melting and compaction (englacial air loss). Using a novel method to analyse eight radar surveys, this study derives separate estimates of ice and air thickness changes during a 15-year period. The uncertainties are considerable, but the primary estimate is that the surveyed lowering (0.066 ± 0.017 m yr-1) is caused by both ice loss (0.28 ± 0.18 m yr-1) and firn-air loss (0.037 ± 0.026 m yr-1). The ice loss is much larger than the air loss, but both contribute approximately equally to the lowering because the ice is floating. The ice loss could be explained by high basal melting and/or ice divergence, and the air loss by low surface accumulation or high surface melting and/or compaction. The primary estimate therefore requires that at least two forcings caused the surveyed lowering. Mechanisms are discussed by which LCIS stability could be compromised in the future. The most rapid pathways to collapse are offered by the ungrounding of LCIS from Bawden Ice Rise or ice-front retreat past a "compressive arch" in strain rates. Recent evidence suggests that either mechanism could pose an imminent risk. © Author(s) 2015. Citation statistics:
资源类型: 期刊论文
标识符: http://119.78.100.158/handle/2HF3EXSE/75298
Appears in Collections: 影响、适应和脆弱性 气候变化与战略
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作者单位: British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, United Kingdom; USGS Alaska Science Center, Anchorage, AK, United States; Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, United States; Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, United States; Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States
Recommended Citation:
Holland P,R,, Brisbourne A,et al. Oceanic and atmospheric forcing of Larsen C Ice-Shelf thinning[J]. Cryosphere,2015-01-01,9(3)