Ice thickness, areal and volumetric changes of Davies Dome and Whisky Glacier (James Ross Island, Antarctic Peninsula) in 1979–2006

Abstract

This study calculates area, volume and elevation changes of two glaciers on James Ross Island, Antarctica, during the period 1979-2006. Davies Dome is a small ice cap. Whisky Glacier is a valley glacier. Ground-penetrating radar surveys indicate ice thickness, which was used for calculations of the bed topography and volume of both glaciers. Maximum measured ice thicknesses of Davies Dome and Whisky Glacier are 83 AE 2 and 157 AE 2 m, respectively. Between 1979 and 2006, the area of the ice cap decreased from 6.23 AE 0.05 km 2 to 4.94 AE 0.01 km 2 (-20.7%), while the area of the valley glacier reduced from 2.69 AE 0.02 km 2 to 2.40 AE 0.01 km 2 (-10.6%). Over the same period the volume of the ice cap and valley glacier reduced from 0.23 AE 0.03 km 3 to 0.16 AE 0.02 km 3 (-30.4%) and from 0.27 AE 0.02 km 3 to 0.24 AE 0.01 km 3 (-10.6%), respectively. The mean surface elevation decreased by 8.5 AE 2.8 and 10.1 AE 2.8 m. The average areal ($0.048-0.011 km 2 a -1 ) and volumetric ($0.003-0.001 km 3 a -1 ) changes are higher than the majority of other estimates from Antarctic Peninsula glaciers.

Helicopter-borne transient electromagnetics in high-latitude environments: An application in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica

“…Low-frequency radar (10-100 MHz) is commonly used to measure the basal topography of glaciers (e.g., Berthling et al, 2000;Isaksen et al, 2000;Degenhardt and Giardino, 2003;Hubbard et al, 2004;Engel et al, 2012), whereas a shorter wavelength (100-400 MHz) is used when high resolution is required (e.g., Fukui et al, 2008;Sold et al, 2014). Because the speed of EM waves in ice is in the range of 0.167-0.169 m:ns −1 , (which adds some uncertainties depending on the value chosen), the vertical resolution (about a quarter of the radar wavelength) ranges from approximately 4 m at 10 MHz to 0.1 m at 400 MHz.…”

Seasonal hydrological and suspended sediment transport dynamics in proglacial streams, James Ross Island, Antarctica

“…This climate change has coincided with disintegration of ice shelves (e.g. ; Vaughan and Doake, 1996;Cook et al, 2005;Hambrey et al, 2015) and retreat (Cook et al, 2005) and thinning Engel et al, 2012) of most of landterminating glaciers in this area.…”

Multi‐year assessment of atmospheric circulation and impacts on air temperature variation on James Ross Island, Antarctic Peninsula

“…In the northeastern AP, the largest ice‐free area with only small ice domes and valley glaciers (Engel et al ., ) lies on James Ross Island (JRI). The first attempt to study the relationship between air temperature on JRI and regional atmospheric circulation is that of Ambrožová et al .…”

“…In the northeastern AP, the largest ice-free area with only small ice domes and valley glaciers (Engel et al, 2012) lies on James Ross Island (JRI). The first attempt to study the relationship between air temperature on JRI and regional atmospheric circulation is that of Ambrožová et al (2019), who linked the west-northwesterly wind with the highest mean air temperature, whereas the coldest temperatures were associated with south-southwesterly wind.…”