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Trends in Antarctic Ice Sheet Elevation and Mass
Author(s) -
Shepherd Andrew,
Gilbert Lin,
Muir Alan S.,
Konrad Hannes,
McMillan Malcolm,
Slater Thomas,
Briggs Kate H.,
Sundal Aud V.,
Hogg Anna E.,
Engdahl Marcus E.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2019gl082182
Subject(s) - antarctic ice sheet , ice sheet , ice stream , geology , snow , elevation (ballistics) , cryosphere , glacier , climatology , future sea level , antarctic sea ice , sea level , physical geography , sea ice , oceanography , geomorphology , geography , geometry , mathematics
Fluctuations in Antarctic Ice Sheet elevation and mass occur over a variety of time scales, owing to changes in snowfall and ice flow. Here we disentangle these signals by combining 25 years of satellite radar altimeter observations and a regional climate model. From these measurements, patterns of change that are strongly associated with glaciological events emerge. While the majority of the ice sheet has remained stable, 24% of West Antarctica is now in a state of dynamical imbalance. Thinning of the Pine Island and Thwaites glacier basins reaches 122 m in places, and their rates of ice loss are now five times greater than at the start of our survey. By partitioning elevation changes into areas of snow and ice variability, we estimate that East and West Antarctica have contributed −1.1 ± 0.4 and +5.7 ± 0.8 mm to global sea level between 1992 and 2017.