A 14-year dataset of in situ glacier surface velocities for a tidewater and a land-terminating glacier in Livingston Island, Antarctica

Abstract

Abstract. We present a 14-year record of in situ glacier surface velocities determined by repeated global navigation satellite system (GNSS) measurements in a dense network of 52 stakes distributed across two glaciers, Johnsons (tidewater) and Hurd (land-terminating), located on Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. The measurements cover the time period 2000-2013 and were collected at the beginning and end of each austral summer season. A second-degree polynomial approximation is fitted to each stake position, which allows estimating the approximate positions and associated velocities at intermediate times. This dataset is useful as input data for numerical models of glacier dynamics or for the calibration and validation of remotely sensed velocities for a region where very scarce in situ glacier surface velocity measurements have been available so far. The link to the data repository is as follows: http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.846791.

Differential Colonization and Succession of Microbial Communities in Rock and Soil Substrates on a Maritime Antarctic Glacier Forefield

“…13 and 23 years since ice retreat. The glacier retreat dates are known because they correspond to measurements of glacier front positions determined in situ by the authors using Global Navigation Satellite System (<1 and 13 years) or from aerial photographs (23 years), both made during periods when the snow cover had melted away (Rodríguez-Cielos et al, 2016;Machío et al, 2017). These sites ranged from bare soils close to the glacier terminus to 23-years ice-free areas dominated by mosses ( Figure 1B).…”

Response of the climatic mass balance of Hurd and Johnsons glaciers, Livingston Island, to the transient cooling period of the northern Antarctic Peninsula in the early 21st century

“…Being a tidewater glacier, Johnsons has ice surface velocities substantially larger than those of the land-terminating Hurd Glacier. For Johnsons, the velocities increase towards the calving front, where values up to 65 m a -1 are attained (Otero et al 2010, Machío et al 2017. By contrast, the highest ice velocities for Hurd Glacier are just about 5 m a -1 and are reached at its central basin, decreasing towards the frozen-tobed terminal zones (Machío et al 2017).…”

High temporal resolution records of the velocity of Hansbreen, a tidewater glacier in Svalbard

“…The survey accuracy includes slight changes in the method of measuring a given stake, related to the frozen tip of the stake, as described above. Contrary to Rückamp et al (2010) or Machío et al (2017), we made no correction for the tilt of the stakes. Our measurements were much more frequent; therefore, tilt of the stake could be neglected.…”

“…The study of ice mass dynamics in light of climate changes is a major research topic (Benn and Evans, 1998;Lemke et al, 2007;Strozzi et al, 2017;Meredith et al, 2019;Van Wychen et al, 2016). For more than 2 decades, in situ measurements of glacier surface velocities with GNSS (global navigation satellite system; Vieli et al, 2000Vieli et al, , 2004Stober and Hepperle, 2007;Machío et al, 2017) have been among the most valuable sources of information for the study of glacier dynamics. The surface velocity is the sum of two componentsice deformation and basal slip (Nye, 1952;Weertman, 1957).…”