Abstract
AbstractTotten and Moscow University glaciers, in the marine‐based sector of East Antarctica, contain enough ice to raise sea level by 5 m. Obtaining precise measurements of their mass balance is challenging owing to large area of the basins and the small mass balance signal compared to West Antarctic glaciers. Here we employ a locally optimized processing of Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) harmonics to evaluate their mass balance at the sub‐basin scale and compare the results with mass budget method (MBM) estimates using regional atmospheric climate model version 2.3 (RACMO2.3) or Modèle Atmosphérique Régional version 3.6.4 (MAR3.6.4). The sub‐basin mass loss estimate for April 2002 to November 2015 is 14.8 ± 4.3 Gt/yr, which is weakly affected by glacial isostatic adjustment uncertainties (±1.4 Gt/yr). This result agrees with MBM/RACMO2.3 (15.8 ± 2.0 Gt/yr), whereas MBM/MAR3.6.4 underestimates the loss (6.6 ± 1.6 Gt/yr). For the entire drainage, the mass loss for April 2002 to August 2016 is 18.5 ± 6.6 Gt/yr, or 15 ± 4% of its ice flux. These results provide unequivocal evidence for mass loss in this East Antarctic sector.
Highlights
The Antarctic ice sheet has been losing mass at a mean rate of 67 ± 44 Gt/yr for the time period January 2003 to December 2013, with an acceleration of 10.6 ± 3.7 Gt/yr2 (Velicogna et al, 2014)
We employ a locally optimized processing of Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) harmonics to evaluate their mass balance at the sub-basin scale and compare the results with mass budget method (MBM) estimates using regional atmospheric climate model version 2.3 (RACMO2.3) or Modèle Atmosphérique Régional version 3.6.4 (MAR3.6.4)
We compare the optimized GRACE time series with the MBM estimates over the subregion defined by our caps (Figures 1b and 2a)
Summary
The Antarctic ice sheet has been losing mass at a mean rate of 67 ± 44 Gt/yr for the time period January 2003 to December 2013, with an acceleration of 10.6 ± 3.7 Gt/yr (Velicogna et al, 2014). Most of this mass loss originates in West Antarctica (WAIS) and the Antarctic Peninsula (Rignot et al, 2008). There are, large drainage sectors in EAIS that exhibit a significant mass loss and hold potential for major sea level rise.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call