Surface mass balance monitoring of the peripheral glaciers of the Antarctic Peninsula in the context of regional climate change

Abstract

During the second half of the 20th century, the Antarctic Peninsula region has undergone a long and sustained warming period, followed by a shorter but also sustained cooling period, and then a very recent return to warming conditions. All of these have profoundly impacted the glaciers peripheral to the Antarctic Peninsula. This paper focuses on the analysis of the surface mass balance monitoring of such glaciers by the glaciological method, complemented by the analysis of mass-balance estimates by geodetic methods, as well as frontal ablation estimates. We aim to summarize the current knowledge and outline the main challenges faced by investigating the mass balance of such peripheral glaciers and their current contribution to sea-level rise.

Recent change in surface mass-balance trends of glaciers on James Ross Island, north-eastern Antarctic Peninsula

“…The highest correlation was found for Davies Dome (r = − 0.965), while a slightly lower correlation was calculated for Triangular Glacier (r = − 0.868). These findings coincide well with the previous studies reporting the high sensitivity of small glaciers on James Ross Island (Davies and others, 2014;Engel and others, 2023) and in adjacent regions of the northern Antarctic Peninsula (Braun and Hock, 2004;Skvarca and others, 2004;Jonsell and others, 2012;Navarro and others, 2023).…”

“…In 2015/16, the glaciers remained close to their 2006 extent experiencing reductions of 3.8% (−0.4% a −1 ) and 3.4% (−0.3% a −1 ) over the period 2006-2015/16. These values coincide with that determined for Triangular Glacier (3.2% and −0.3% a −1 ), being an order of magnitude lower compared with the reductions reported for Lookalike Glacier (10.6%), Davies Dome (20.7%) and Triangular Glacier (30.8%) over the period 1979-2006(Engel and others, 2012, 2023. The ongoing decrease of area loss (−0.2% a −1 ) derived for both Lookalike Glacier and Davies Dome over the period 2015/16-2020, and the accelerated retreat of Triangular Glacier (−0.9% a −1 ), indicate a shift in glacier evolution around the mid-2010s (Fig.…”