Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T17:36:15.024Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Short-term mass changes and retreat of the Ecology and Sphinx glacier system, King George Island, Antarctic Peninsula

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 May 2015

Ireneusz Sobota ,
Marek Kejna  and
Andrzej Araźny
Ireneusz Sobota*
Affiliation:
Nicolaus Copernicus Polar Station, Department of Hydrology and Water Management, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Lwowska 1, 87-100 Toruń, Poland
Marek Kejna
Affiliation:
Department of Meteorology and Climatology, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Lwowska 1, 87-100 Toruń, Poland
Andrzej Araźny
Affiliation:
Department of Meteorology and Climatology, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Lwowska 1, 87-100 Toruń, Poland
*
[email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study investigated the mass balance, melting, near-surface ice thermal structure and meteorological conditions of the Ecology and Sphinx glacier system (ESGS), located on King George Island, Antarctic Peninsula. The study also analysed the role of climate change in glacial retreat of the ESGS in the long (1979–2012) and short term, with a particular focus on the impact on the 2012–13 mass balance of the ESGS. In 2012–13, the glaciers had a mean annual net mass balance of +17.8 cm w.e., but over the long term the glaciers have been receding in this region. The area loss of the ESGS between 1979 and 2012 amounted to 41%. This investigation of mass balance is especially important as it offers one of only a few records available on King George Island. The mean near-surface ice temperature (February to June 2012) for the Ecology and Sphinx glaciers was -0.3°C and -1.0°C at 10 m depth, respectively. From 1948–2012, the air temperature on King George Island increased by 1.2°C (0.19°C per decade).

Keywords

air temperatureAntarcticclimate changeglacierglacier retreatice temperaturemass balance
Type
Physical Sciences
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 27 , Issue 5 , October 2015 , pp. 500 - 510
Check for updates
Copyright
© Antarctic Science Ltd 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andukhov, O.A., Lagun, V.E., Černyh, I.V. & Jagovkina, S.V. 2006. Ob izmenenii klimata v troposfere nad Antarkticheskim poluostrovom. Problemy Klimatologii Polarnej, 16, 7–22.Google Scholar
Araźny, A., Kejna, M. & Sobota, I. 2013. Ground temperature at the Henryk Arctowski Station (King George Island, Antarctic) – case study from the period January 2012 to February 2013. Bulletin of Geography - Physical Geography Series, 6, 59–80.Google Scholar
Birkenmajer, K. 2002. Retreat of Ecology Glacier, Admiralty Bay, King George Island (South Shetland Islands, West Antarctica) 1956–2001. Bulletin of Polish Academy of Sciences, 50, 15–29.Google Scholar
Blindow, N., Suckro, S.K., Rückamp, M., Braun, M., Schindler, M., Breuer, B., Saurer, H., Simões, J.C. & Lange, M.A. 2010. Geometry and thermal regime of the King George Island ice cap, Antarctica, from GPR and GPS. Annals of Glaciology, 51, 103–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Braun, M. & Gossmann, H. 2002. Glacial changes in the area of Admiralty Bay and Potter Cove, King George Island, Antarctica. In Beyer, M. & Boelter, M., eds. Geoecology of terrestrial Antarctic oases. Berlin-Heidelberg: Springer, 75–89.Google Scholar
Braun, M. 2001. Ablation on the ice cap of King George Island (Antarctica) – an approach from field measurements, modelling and remote sensing. PhD thesis, Albert–Ludwigs–Universität Freiburg, 165 pp. [Unpublished].Google Scholar
Cogley, J.G., Hock, R., Rasmussen, L.A., Arendt, A.A., Bauder, A., Braithwaite, R.J., Jansson, P., Kaser, G., Möller, M., Nicholson, L. & Zemp, M. 2011. Glossary of glacier mass balance and related terms, IHP–VII technical documents in hydrology. No. 86, IACS Contribution No. 2. Paris: UNESCO-IHP, 114 pp.Google Scholar
Cook, A.J., Fox, A.J., Vaughan, D.G. & Ferrigno, J.G. 2005. Retreating glacier fronts on the Antarctic Peninsula over the past half-century. Science, 308, 541–544.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Francelino, M.R., Schaefer, C.E.G.R. & Fernandes Filho, E.I. 2003. Arctowski region map. Non-conventional aerial photographs.Google Scholar
Kejna, M. 2003. Trends of air temperature of the Antarctic during the period 1958–2000. Polish Polar Research, 24, 99–126.Google Scholar
Kejna, M. 2008. Spatial distribution and variability of air temperature on Antarctica during the second part of the 20th century. Toruń: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika, 272 pp.Google Scholar
Kejna, M. & Láska, K. 1999. Arctowski 1996. Toruń: Rocznik Meteorologiczny, 42 pp.Google Scholar
Kejna, M., Araźny, A. & Sobota, I. 2013. Climatic change on King George Island in the years 1948–2011. Polish Polar Research, 34, 213–235.Google Scholar
Kejna, M., Láska, K. & Caputa, Z. 1998. Recession of Ecology Glacier (King George Island) in the period 1961–1996. Polish Polar Studies, 121–128.Google Scholar
Macheret, Y.Y. & Moskalevsky, M.Y. 1999. Study of Lange Glacier on King George Island, Antarctica. Annals of Glaciology, 29, 202–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marsz, A.A. 2000. Physical and geographical characteristics of the land in the vicinity of Admiralty Bay (West Antarctica, South Shetland Islands, King George Island). Gdynia: Wyższa Szkoła Morska, 125 pp.Google Scholar
Marsz, A.A. & Styszyńska, A. 1994. Pomiar promieniowania całkowitego na Stacji Arctowskiego z roku 1980. Problemy Klimatologii Polarnej, 4, 59–64.Google Scholar
Marsz, A.A. & Styszyńska, A. 2000. Główne cechy klimatu rejonu Polskiej Stacji Antarktycznej im. H. Arctowskiego. Gdynia: Wyższa Szkoła Morska, 264 pp.Google Scholar
Prošek, P., Janouch, M. & Kruszewski, G. 1996. Składniki bilansu promieniowania i ich przebieg latem 1994/95 na Stacji im. H. Arctowskiego (Szetlandy Południowe). Problemy Klimatologii Polarnej, 6, 107–138.Google Scholar
Pudełko, R. 2003. Topographic map of the SSSI No. 8, King George Island, West Antarctica. Polish Polar Research, 24, 52–60.Google Scholar
Pudełko, R. 2007. Othophotomap. Western shore of Admiralty Bay. 1:10000. Department of Antarctic Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences.Google Scholar
Rakusa-Suszczewski, S. 2003. Functioning of the geoecosystem for the west side of Admiralty Bay (King George Island, Antarctica): outline of research at Arctowski Station. Ocean and Polar Research, 25, 653–662.Google Scholar
Rau, F. & Braun, M. 2002. The regional distribution of the dry-snow zone on the Antarctic Peninsula north of 70°S. Annals of Glaciology, 34, 95–100.Google Scholar
Reijmer, C.H. & Hock, R. 2008. Internal accumulation on Storglaciären, Sweden, in a multi-layer snow model coupled to a distributed energy- and mass-balance model. Journal of Glaciology, 54, 61–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosa, K.K., Vieira, R., Mendes Junior, C.W., Souza Junior, E. & Simões, J.C. 2013. Compilation of geomorphological map for reconstructing the deglaciation of ice-free areas in the Martel Inlet, King George Island, Antarctica. Revista Brasileira de Geomorfologia, 14, 181–187.Google Scholar
Rückamp, M., Blindow, N., Suckro, S., Braun, M. & Humbert, A. 2010. Dynamics of the ice cap on King George Island, Antarctica: field measurements and numerical simulations. Annals of Glaciology, 51, 80–90.Google Scholar
Rückamp, M., Braun, M., Suckro, S. & Blindow, N. 2011. Observed glacial changes on the King George Island ice cap, Antarctica, in the last decade. Global and Planetary Change, 79, 99–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simões, J.C., Bremer, U.F., Aquino, F.E. & Ferron, F.A. 1999. Morphology and variations of glacial drainage basins in the King George Island ice field, Antarctica. Annals of Glaciology, 29, 220–224.Google Scholar
Simões, J.C., Dani, N., Bremer, U.F., Aquino, F.E. & Arigony-Neto, J. 2004. Small cirque glaciers retreat on Keller Peninsula, Admiralty Bay, King George Island, Antarctica. Pesquisa Antartica Brasileira, 4, 49–56.Google Scholar
Sobota, I. 2009. The near-surface ice thermal structure of the Waldemarbreen, Svalbard. Polish Polar Research, 30, 317–338.Google Scholar
Sobota, I. 2011. Snow accumulation, melt, mass loss, and the near-surface ice temperature structure of Irenebreen, Svalbard. Polar Science, 5, 327–336.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sobota, I. 2013. Współczesne zmiany kriosfery północno-zachodniego Spitsbergenu na przykładzie regionu Kaffiøyry. Toruń: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika, 449 pp.Google Scholar
Steig, E.J, Schneider, D.P., Rutherford, S.D., Mann, M.E., Comiso, J.C. & Shindell, D.T. 2009. Warming of the Antarctic ice-sheet surface since the 1957 International Geophysical Year. Nature, 457, 459–462.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vaughan, D.G., Marshall, G.J., Connolley, W.M., Parkinson, C., Mulvaney, R., Hodgson, D.A., King, J.C., Pudsey, C.J. & Turner, J. 2003. Recent rapid regional climate warming on the Antarctic Peninsula. Climatic Change, 60, 243–274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar