The Cryosphere
The Cryosphere
TC
Articles | Volume 13, issue 10
Articles | Volume 13, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2657-2019
© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2657-2019
© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 13, issue 10
Research article
 | 
11 Oct 2019
Research article |  | 11 Oct 2019

Impact of frontal ablation on the ice thickness estimation of marine-terminating glaciers in Alaska

Beatriz Recinos, Fabien Maussion, Timo Rothenpieler, and Ben Marzeion

Model code and software

Open Global Glacier Model (OGGM v1.1.2) F. Maussion, T. Rothenpieler, M. Dusch, B. Recinos, A. Vlug, B. Marzeion, M. Oberrauch, J. Eis, J. Landmann, A. Jarosch, S. L. Bartholomew, A. Butenko, N. Champollion, M. Castellani, P. Gregor, S. Smith, and D. Rounce https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3406019

Experiments with a minimal Frontal ablation model added to OGGM B. Recinos https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3405990

OGGM/oggm: v1.1 F. Maussion, T. Roth, M. Dusch, B. Recinos, A. Vlug, B. Marzeion, J. Landmann, J. Eis, S. L. Bartholomew, N. Champollion, P. Gregor, A. Butenko, S. Smith, and M. Oberrauch https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2580277

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Short summary
We have implemented a frontal ablation parameterization into the Open Global Glacier Model and have shown that inversion methods based on mass conservation systematically underestimate the mass turnover (and therefore the thickness) of tidewater glaciers when neglecting frontal ablation. This underestimation can rise up to 19 % on a regional scale. Not accounting for frontal ablation will have an impact on the estimate of the glaciers’ potential contribution to sea level rise.
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