Mass balance of four East Antarctic outlet glaciers

View/ Open
Issue Date
2011-12-01Author
Stearns, Leigh A.
Publisher
International Glaciological Society
Type
Article
Article Version
Scholarly/refereed, publisher version
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The East Antarctic ice sheet (EAIS) is Earth's largest reservoir of fresh water and has the potential to raise sea level by 50 m. A significant amount of the ice sheet's mass is discharged by outlet glaciers draining through the Transantarctic Mountains, the balance characteristics of which are largely unknown. Here the mass balance is estimated for four glaciers draining ice from the EAIS through the Transantarctic Mountains into the Ross Sea embayment: David, Mulock, Byrd and Nimrod glaciers. Remote-sensing observations are used to map changes in ice flow and surface elevation, and ultimately to compute the mass balance of each glacier using the input–output method and three separate estimates for accumulation rate. Results computed using this method indicate small positive balances for David (2.41±1.31 Gt a–1), Mulock (1.91±0.84 Gt a–1) and Nimrod (0.88 0.39 Gt a–1) glaciers, and a large positive imbalance for Byrd Glacier (21.67±4.04 Gt a–1). This large imbalance for Byrd Glacier is inconsistent with other observations, and is likely due to an overestimation of accumulation rates across large regions of the interior catchment.
Description
This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from "http://www.ingentaconnect.com".
ISSN
0260-3055Collections
- Geology Scholarly Works [247]
Citation
Stearns, L. (2011). Dynamics and mass balance of four large East Antarctic outlet glaciers. Annals of Glaciology, 52(59), 116-126. http://dx.doi.org/10.3189/172756411799096187
Items in KU ScholarWorks are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.
We want to hear from you! Please share your stories about how Open Access to this item benefits YOU.