Articles | Volume 14, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3551-2020
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3551-2020
Research article
 | 
27 Oct 2020
Research article |  | 27 Oct 2020

The 2020 Larsen C Ice Shelf surface melt is a 40-year record high

Suzanne Bevan, Adrian Luckman, Harry Hendon, and Guomin Wang

Related authors

TermPicks: a century of Greenland glacier terminus data for use in scientific and machine learning applications
Sophie Goliber, Taryn Black, Ginny Catania, James M. Lea, Helene Olsen, Daniel Cheng, Suzanne Bevan, Anders Bjørk, Charlie Bunce, Stephen Brough, J. Rachel Carr, Tom Cowton, Alex Gardner, Dominik Fahrner, Emily Hill, Ian Joughin, Niels J. Korsgaard, Adrian Luckman, Twila Moon, Tavi Murray, Andrew Sole, Michael Wood, and Enze Zhang
The Cryosphere, 16, 3215–3233, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3215-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3215-2022, 2022
Short summary
Rapid fragmentation of Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf
Douglas I. Benn, Adrian Luckman, Jan A. Åström, Anna J. Crawford, Stephen L. Cornford, Suzanne L. Bevan, Thomas Zwinger, Rupert Gladstone, Karen Alley, Erin Pettit, and Jeremy Bassis
The Cryosphere, 16, 2545–2564, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2545-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2545-2022, 2022
Short summary
Brief communication: Thwaites Glacier cavity evolution
Suzanne L. Bevan, Adrian J. Luckman, Douglas I. Benn, Susheel Adusumilli, and Anna Crawford
The Cryosphere, 15, 3317–3328, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3317-2021,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3317-2021, 2021
Short summary
An updated seabed bathymetry beneath Larsen C Ice Shelf, Antarctic Peninsula
Alex Brisbourne, Bernd Kulessa, Thomas Hudson, Lianne Harrison, Paul Holland, Adrian Luckman, Suzanne Bevan, David Ashmore, Bryn Hubbard, Emma Pearce, James White, Adam Booth, Keith Nicholls, and Andrew Smith
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 887–896, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-887-2020,https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-887-2020, 2020
Short summary
Impact of warming shelf waters on ice mélange and terminus retreat at a large SE Greenland glacier
Suzanne L. Bevan, Adrian J. Luckman, Douglas I. Benn, Tom Cowton, and Joe Todd
The Cryosphere, 13, 2303–2315, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2303-2019,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2303-2019, 2019
Short summary

Related subject area

Discipline: Ice sheets | Subject: Ice Shelf
An analysis of the interaction between surface and basal crevasses in ice shelves
Maryam Zarrinderakht, Christian Schoof, and Anthony Peirce
The Cryosphere, 18, 3841–3856, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3841-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3841-2024, 2024
Short summary
The importance of cloud properties when assessing surface melting in an offline-coupled firn model over Ross Ice shelf, West Antarctica
Nicolaj Hansen, Andrew Orr, Xun Zou, Fredrik Boberg, Thomas J. Bracegirdle, Ella Gilbert, Peter L. Langen, Matthew A. Lazzara, Ruth Mottram, Tony Phillips, Ruth Price, Sebastian B. Simonsen, and Stuart Webster
The Cryosphere, 18, 2897–2916, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2897-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2897-2024, 2024
Short summary
Coupled ice–ocean interactions during future retreat of West Antarctic ice streams in the Amundsen Sea sector
David T. Bett, Alexander T. Bradley, C. Rosie Williams, Paul R. Holland, Robert J. Arthern, and Daniel N. Goldberg
The Cryosphere, 18, 2653–2675, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2653-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2653-2024, 2024
Short summary
Responses of the Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers to melt and sliding parameterizations
Ian Joughin, Daniel Shapero, and Pierre Dutrieux
The Cryosphere, 18, 2583–2601, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2583-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2583-2024, 2024
Short summary
Extreme melting at Greenland's largest floating ice tongue
Ole Zeising, Niklas Neckel, Nils Dörr, Veit Helm, Daniel Steinhage, Ralph Timmermann, and Angelika Humbert
The Cryosphere, 18, 1333–1357, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1333-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1333-2024, 2024
Short summary

Cited articles

Adusumilli, S., Fricker, H. A., Siegfried, M. R., Padman, L., Paolo, F. S., and Ligtenberg, S. R. M.: Variable Basal Melt Rates of Antarctic Peninsula Ice Shelves, 1994–2016, Geophys. Res. Lett., 45, 4086–4095, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL076652, 2018. a
Arblaster, J. M. and Meehl, G. A.: Contributions of External Forcings to Southern Annular Mode Trends, J. Climate, 19, 2896–2905, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI3774.1, 2006. a
Armstrong, R., Knowles, K., Brodzik, M. J., and Hardman, M. A.: DMSP SSM/I-SSMIS Pathfinder Daily EASE-Grid Brightness Temperatures, Version 2. Boulder, Colorado USA, NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center, https://doi.org/10.5067/3EX2U1DV3434, 1994. a
Ashcraft, I. S. and Long, D. G.: Comparison of methods for melt detection over Greenland using active and passive microwave measurements, Int. J. Remote Sens., 27, 2469–2488, https://doi.org/10.1080/01431160500534465, 2006. a, b, c
Banwell, A. F., MacAyeal, D. R., and Sergienko, O. V.: Breakup of the Larsen B Ice Shelf triggered by chain reaction drainage of supraglacial lakes, Geophys. Res. Lett., 40, 5872–5876, https://doi.org/10.1002/2013GL057694, 2013. a
Download
Short summary
In February 2020, along with record-breaking high temperatures in the region, satellite images showed that the surface of the largest remaining ice shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula was experiencing a lot of melt. Using archived satellite data we show that this melt was greater than any in the past 40 years. The extreme melt followed unusual weather patterns further north, highlighting the importance of long-range links between the tropics and high latitudes and the impact on ice-shelf stability.