Surface-elevation changes and mass balance of the Academy of Sciences Ice Cap, Severnaya Zemlya

We have determined the surface-elevation change rates of the Academy of Sciences Ice Cap, Severnaya Zemlya, Russian Arctic, for two different periods: 2004–2016 and 2012/2013–2016. The former was calculated from differencing of ICESat and ArcticDEM digital elevation models, while the latter was obta...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: F. J. Navarro, P. Sánchez-Gámez, A. F. Glazovsky, C. Recio-Blitz
Format: Article
Language:Russian
Published: Nauka 2020-04-01
Series:Лëд и снег
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Online Access:https://ice-snow.igras.ru/jour/article/view/781
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Summary:We have determined the surface-elevation change rates of the Academy of Sciences Ice Cap, Severnaya Zemlya, Russian Arctic, for two different periods: 2004–2016 and 2012/2013–2016. The former was calculated from differencing of ICESat and ArcticDEM digital elevation models, while the latter was obtained by differencing two sets of ArcticDEM digital elevation models. From these surface-elevation change rates we obtained the geodetic mass balance, which was nearly identical for both periods, at −1,72±0,67 Gt a−1, equivalent to −0,31±0,12 m w.e. a−1 over the whole ice cap area. Using an independent estimate of frontal ablation for 2016−2017 of −1,93±0,12 Gt a−1 (−0,31±0,12 m w.e. a−1), we get an estimate of the climatic mass balance not significantly different from zero, at 0,21±0,68 Gt a−1 (0,04±0,13 m w.e. a−1), which agrees with the near-zero average balance at a decadal scale observed during the last four decades. Making an observationally-based assumption on accumulation rate, we estimate the current total ablation from the ice cap, and its partitioning between frontal ablation, dominated by calving (~54%) and climatic mass balance, mostly surface ablation (~46%).
ISSN:2076-6734
2412-3765