Mass balance of ‘Glaciar Bahía del Diablo’, Vega Island, Antarctic Peninsula

Abstract

Given the pronounced atmospheric warming recorded in recent decades on the Antarctic Peninsula (AP), knowledge of glacier mass balance in this region is especially important for assessing the impact of climatic warming on ice masses. ‘Glaciar Bahía del Diablo’ (GBD) on Vega Island, northeastern AP, is a glacier that terminates on land, so its mass balance is directly linked to climate. GBD is a polythermal outlet glacier, 14.3 km2 in area with an accumulation–area ratio of 0.39. Increased ablation rates and glacier thinning motivated us to select GBD as a test site for mass-balance studies within the region. Calculations based on the stratigraphic annual method yielded a mean annual loss of 0.32 mw.e. a–1 for the annual net mass balance (bn) between 1999 and 2003. A strong correlation was observed between bn and mean summer temperatures, confirming that GBD is highly sensitive to climate. The study of GBD aims at establishing a suitable reference database for ice–climate studies in a region of dramatic changes in Antarctica.

A time series of SAR data for monitoring changes in boundaries of glacier zones on the Antarctic Peninsula

“…This agrees with the lowest value of annual net mass balance (–0.56mw.e.) recorded for this balance year by Skvarca and others (2004) for the time series 1999/2000–2002/03 of ‘Glaciar Bahía del Diablo’, Vega Island (63˚50′ S, 57˚25′ W). In addition, the mean snowline altitude on the east coast of the TPE shows a good correlation with variations in the mean summer (December–February) air-temperature records at Marambio station (Fig.…”

Estimating surface melt and runoff on the Antarctic Peninsula using ERA-Interim reanalysis data

“…2013) or an entire glacier mass balance year (Vega Island) (Skvarca et al . 2004, Marinsek & Ermolin 2015).…”

10 year mass balance by glaciological and geodetic methods of Glaciar Bahía del Diablo, Vega Island, Antarctic Peninsula

“…This conclusion was based on three findings: (1) The mass balance for the whole glacier for the period March 2000 to February 2001 was close to zero, at –0.06 m w.e. (Skvarca and others, 2004). (2) The mean elevation change over the accumulation area, corresponding approximately to the area surveyed in 2000, was ~0.7 m over the 11 years, equivalent to <0.07 m a –1 (Table 1).…”

“…Continuous monitoring of glacier mass balance is important for climate research due to the high sensitivity of polar regions to climate change (Weller, 1998). However, only a few glaciers on the AP and surrounding islands are monitored by field measurements (Skvarca and others, 2004; Engel and others, 2012; Navarro and others, 2013; Mavlyudov, 2014).…”