Mass budget of the glaciers and ice caps of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, Canada, from 1991 to 2015
Recent studies indicate that the glaciers and ice caps in Queen Elizabeth Islands (QEI), Canada have experienced an increase in ice mass loss during the last two decades, but the contribution of ice dynamics to this loss is not well known. We present a comprehensive mapping of ice velocity using a s...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2017-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa5b04 |
| _version_ | 1797748378808877056 |
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| author | Romain Millan Jeremie Mouginot Eric Rignot |
| author_facet | Romain Millan Jeremie Mouginot Eric Rignot |
| author_sort | Romain Millan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Recent studies indicate that the glaciers and ice caps in Queen Elizabeth Islands (QEI), Canada have experienced an increase in ice mass loss during the last two decades, but the contribution of ice dynamics to this loss is not well known. We present a comprehensive mapping of ice velocity using a suite of satellite data from year 1991 to 2015, combined with ice thickness data from NASA Operation IceBridge, to calculate ice discharge. We find that ice discharge increased significantly after 2011 in Prince of Wales Icefield, maintained or decreased in other sectors, whereas glacier surges have little impact on long-term trends in ice discharge. During 1991–2005, the QEI mass loss averaged 6.3 ± 1.1 Gt yr ^−1 , 52% from ice discharge and the rest from surface mass balance (SMB). During 2005–2014, the mass loss from ice discharge averaged 3.5 ± 0.2 Gt yr ^−1 (10%) versus 29.6 ± 3.0 Gt yr ^−1 (90%) from SMB. SMB processes therefore dominate the QEI mass balance, with ice dynamics playing a significant role only in a few basins. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:03:55Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b2aef319a9e447e1a527d93d27fee871 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:03:55Z |
| publishDate | 2017-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
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| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-b2aef319a9e447e1a527d93d27fee8712023-08-09T14:30:25ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262017-01-0112202401610.1088/1748-9326/aa5b04Mass budget of the glaciers and ice caps of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, Canada, from 1991 to 2015Romain Millan0Jeremie Mouginot1Eric Rignot2Department of Earth System Science, University of California , Irvine, California, United States of America; Author to whom any correspondence should be addressed.Department of Earth System Science, University of California , Irvine, California, United States of AmericaDepartment of Earth System Science, University of California , Irvine, California, United States of America; Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, California, United States of AmericaRecent studies indicate that the glaciers and ice caps in Queen Elizabeth Islands (QEI), Canada have experienced an increase in ice mass loss during the last two decades, but the contribution of ice dynamics to this loss is not well known. We present a comprehensive mapping of ice velocity using a suite of satellite data from year 1991 to 2015, combined with ice thickness data from NASA Operation IceBridge, to calculate ice discharge. We find that ice discharge increased significantly after 2011 in Prince of Wales Icefield, maintained or decreased in other sectors, whereas glacier surges have little impact on long-term trends in ice discharge. During 1991–2005, the QEI mass loss averaged 6.3 ± 1.1 Gt yr ^−1 , 52% from ice discharge and the rest from surface mass balance (SMB). During 2005–2014, the mass loss from ice discharge averaged 3.5 ± 0.2 Gt yr ^−1 (10%) versus 29.6 ± 3.0 Gt yr ^−1 (90%) from SMB. SMB processes therefore dominate the QEI mass balance, with ice dynamics playing a significant role only in a few basins.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa5b04cryosphereice dischargesurface mass balanceremote sensingmass budget |
| spellingShingle | Romain Millan Jeremie Mouginot Eric Rignot Mass budget of the glaciers and ice caps of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, Canada, from 1991 to 2015 Environmental Research Letters cryosphere ice discharge surface mass balance remote sensing mass budget |
| title | Mass budget of the glaciers and ice caps of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, Canada, from 1991 to 2015 |
| title_full | Mass budget of the glaciers and ice caps of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, Canada, from 1991 to 2015 |
| title_fullStr | Mass budget of the glaciers and ice caps of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, Canada, from 1991 to 2015 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mass budget of the glaciers and ice caps of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, Canada, from 1991 to 2015 |
| title_short | Mass budget of the glaciers and ice caps of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, Canada, from 1991 to 2015 |
| title_sort | mass budget of the glaciers and ice caps of the queen elizabeth islands canada from 1991 to 2015 |
| topic | cryosphere ice discharge surface mass balance remote sensing mass budget |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa5b04 |
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