Rapid loss of the Ayles Ice Shelf, Ellesmere Island, Canada

Abstract

On August 13, 2005, almost the entire Ayles Ice Shelf (87.1 km2) calved off within an hour and created a new 66.4 km2 ice island in the Arctic Ocean. This loss of one of the six remaining Ellesmere Island ice shelves reduced their overall area by ∼7.5%. The ice shelf was likely weakened prior to calving by a long‐term negative mass balance related to an increase in mean annual temperatures over the past 50+ years. The weakened ice shelf then calved during the warmest summer on record in a period of high winds, record low sea ice conditions and the loss of a semi‐permanent landfast sea ice fringe. Climate reanalysis suggests that a threshold of >200 positive degree days year−1 is important in determining when ice shelf calving events occur on N. Ellesmere Island.