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Abstract
ABSTRACTTwo small glaciers on James Ross Island, the north-eastern Antarctic Peninsula, experienced surface mass gain between 2009 and 2015 as revealed by field measurements. A positive cumulative surface mass balance of 0.57 ± 0.67 and 0.11 ± 0.37 m w.e. was observed during the 2009–2015 period on Whisky Glacier and Davies Dome, respectively. The results indicate a change from surface mass loss that prevailed in the region during the first decade of the 21st century to predominantly positive surface mass balance after 2009/10. The spatial pattern of annual surface mass-balance distribution implies snow redistribution by wind on both glaciers. The mean equilibrium line altitudes for Whisky Glacier (311 ± 16 m a.s.l.) and Davies Dome (393 ± 18 m a.s.l.) are in accordance with the regional data indicating 200–300 m higher equilibrium line on James Ross and Vega Islands compared with the South Shetland Islands. The mean accumulation-area ratio of 0.68 ± 0.09 and 0.44 ± 0.09 determined for Whisky Glacier and Davies Dome, respectively, is similar to the value reported for Vega Island and within the range of typical values for high-latitude glaciers.
Highlights
IntroductionGlaciers and ice caps (hereafter referred to as glaciers) cover 132 900 km around the Antarctic ice sheet, representing 18% of the glacier area on Earth, excluding the ice sheets (Pfeffer and others, 2014)
Glaciers and ice caps cover 132 900 km2 around the Antarctic ice sheet, representing 18% of the glacier area on Earth, excluding the ice sheets (Pfeffer and others, 2014)
Whisky Glacier experienced a cumulative mass gain of 0.57 ± 0.67 m w.e. from 2009/10 to 2014/15 and its surface mass balance increased at an average rate of 0.09 ± 0.05 m w.e. a−1 (Fig. 4)
Summary
Glaciers and ice caps (hereafter referred to as glaciers) cover 132 900 km around the Antarctic ice sheet, representing 18% of the glacier area on Earth, excluding the ice sheets (Pfeffer and others, 2014). Despite the large extent of glaciers in the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic, very few glaciological data are available for this region. Few estimates exist for regional extent of glacierized area in this region, which is under-represented by long-term mass-balance data. The massbalance records of these small glaciers are used to represent mass changes of 2752 glaciers in the Antarctic and subAntarctic region, with individual areas up to 6000 km large (RGI Consortium, 2017). The glaciers in this region experience distinctly different climate conditions (Cogley and others, 2014) and the sample of glaciers with mass balance is not representative for all subregions. The lack of data increases uncertainties in regional estimates of glacier mass changes and their projections, which are crucial for determining the impacts of melting glaciers on sea level rise and terrestrial water resources
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