气候变化领域集成服务门户(CCPortal): Oceanic and atmospheric forcing of Larsen C Ice-Shelf thinning

CCPortal

DOI	10.5194/tc-9-1005-2015
	Oceanic and atmospheric forcing of Larsen C Ice-Shelf thinning
	Holland P.R.; Brisbourne A.; Corr H.F.J.; McGrath D.; Purdon K.; Paden J.; Fricker H.A.; Paolo F.S.; Fleming A.H.
发表日期	2015
ISSN	19940416
卷号	9 期号:3
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.
学科领域	Antarctic Bottom Water; atmospheric forcing; compaction; ice thickness; melting; radar; shelf dynamics; Antarctic Peninsula; Antarctica; Larsen Ice Shelf; West Antarctica
语种	英语
scopus关键词	Antarctic Bottom Water; atmospheric forcing; compaction; ice thickness; melting; radar; shelf dynamics; Antarctic Peninsula; Antarctica; Larsen Ice Shelf; West Antarctica
来源期刊	Cryosphere
文献类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://gcip.llas.ac.cn/handle/2XKMVOVA/119900
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
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Holland P.R.,Brisbourne A.,Corr H.F.J.,et al. Oceanic and atmospheric forcing of Larsen C Ice-Shelf thinning[J],2015,9(3).
APA	Holland P.R..,Brisbourne A..,Corr H.F.J..,McGrath D..,Purdon K..,...&Fleming A.H..(2015).Oceanic and atmospheric forcing of Larsen C Ice-Shelf thinning.Cryosphere,9(3).
MLA	Holland P.R.,et al."Oceanic and atmospheric forcing of Larsen C Ice-Shelf thinning".Cryosphere 9.3(2015).