Articles | Volume 18, issue 8
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3591-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3591-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
15 Aug 2024
Research article |
| 15 Aug 2024
| 15 Aug 2024
Arctic glacier snowline altitudes rise 150 m over the last 4 decades
Laura J. Larocca
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
School of Earth and Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, USA
Cooperative Programs for the Advancement of Earth System Science, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO 80307, USA
School of Ocean Futures, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA
James M. Lea
Department of Geography and Planning, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
Michael P. Erb
School of Earth and Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, USA
Nicholas P. McKay
School of Earth and Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, USA
Megan Phillips
School of Earth and Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, USA
Kara A. Lamantia
Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
School of Earth Sciences, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
Darrell S. Kaufman
School of Earth and Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, USA
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Kara A. Lamantia, Laura J. Larocca, Lonnie G. Thompson, and Bryan G. Mark
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-676, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-676, 2024
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Glaciers that exist within tropical regions are a vital water resource and excellent indicators of changing climate. We use satellite imagery analysis to detect the boundary between snow and ice on the Quelccaya Ice Cap (QIC) in Peru, the world’s largest tropical ice cap. This indicates the QIC’s health and can be analyzed with other variables such as temperature, precipitation, and sea surface temperature anomalies to better understand what factors on what timeline are driving the ice retreat.
Darrell Kaufman and Valérie Masson-Delmotte
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1845, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1845, 2024
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Rather than reverting to a dedicated paleoclimate chapter, knowledge about pre-industrial climate should be further integrated with other lines of evidence throughout the 7th assessment reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Christopher L. Hancock, Michael P. Erb, Nicholas P. McKay, and Sylvia G. Dee
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-746, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-746, 2024
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We reconstruct global hydroclimate anomalies for the past 21,000 years using a data assimilation methodology blending observations recorded in lake sediments with the climate dynamics simulated by climate models. The reconstruction resolves data-model disagreement in East Africa and North America, and we find that changing global temperatures and associated circulation patterns as well as orbital forcing are the dominant controls on global precipitation over this interval.
Kara A. Lamantia, Laura J. Larocca, Lonnie G. Thompson, and Bryan G. Mark
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-676, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-676, 2024
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Glaciers that exist within tropical regions are a vital water resource and excellent indicators of changing climate. We use satellite imagery analysis to detect the boundary between snow and ice on the Quelccaya Ice Cap (QIC) in Peru, the world’s largest tropical ice cap. This indicates the QIC’s health and can be analyzed with other variables such as temperature, precipitation, and sea surface temperature anomalies to better understand what factors on what timeline are driving the ice retreat.
Gabriel West, Darrell S. Kaufman, Martin Jakobsson, and Matt O'Regan
Geochronology, 5, 285–299, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-5-285-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-5-285-2023, 2023
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We report aspartic and glutamic acid racemization analyses on Neogloboquadrina pachyderma and Cibicidoides wuellerstorfi from the Arctic Ocean (AO). The rates of racemization in the species are compared. Calibrating the rate of racemization in C. wuellerstorfi for the past 400 ka allows the estimation of sample ages from the central AO. Estimated ages are older than existing age assignments (as previously observed for N. pachyderma), confirming that differences are not due to taxonomic effects.
Michael P. Erb, Nicholas P. McKay, Nathan Steiger, Sylvia Dee, Chris Hancock, Ruza F. Ivanovic, Lauren J. Gregoire, and Paul Valdes
Clim. Past, 18, 2599–2629, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-2599-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-2599-2022, 2022
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To look at climate over the past 12 000 years, we reconstruct spatial temperature using natural climate archives and information from model simulations. Our results show mild global mean warmth around 6000 years ago, which differs somewhat from past reconstructions. Undiagnosed seasonal biases in the data could explain some of the observed temperature change, but this still would not explain the large difference between many reconstructions and climate models over this period.
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
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Terminus traces have been used to understand how Greenland's glaciers have changed over time; however, manual digitization is time-intensive, and a lack of coordination leads to duplication of efforts. We have compiled a dataset of over 39 000 terminus traces for 278 glaciers for scientific and machine learning applications. We also provide an overview of an updated version of the Google Earth Engine Digitization Tool (GEEDiT), which has been developed specifically for the Greenland Ice Sheet.
Darrell S. Kaufman and Nicholas P. McKay
Clim. Past, 18, 911–917, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-911-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-911-2022, 2022
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Global mean surface temperatures are rising to levels unprecedented in over 100 000 years. This conclusion takes into account both recent global warming and likely future warming, which thereby enables a direct comparison with paleotemperature reconstructions on multi-century timescales.
Lauren J. Davies, Britta J. L. Jensen, and Darrell S. Kaufman
Geochronology, 4, 121–141, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-4-121-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-4-121-2022, 2022
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Subarctic and Arctic lake sediments provide key data to understand natural climate variability and future climate change. However, they can be difficult to date accurately and of limited use without a robust chronology. We use volcanic ash deposits from the last ~4000 BP to identify anomalously old radiocarbon ages at Cascade Lake, Alaska. A provisional ~15 000-year Bayesian age model is produced for the lake, and a new location for ash from five Late Holocene eruptions is reported.
David W. Ashmore, Douglas W. F. Mair, Jonathan E. Higham, Stephen Brough, James M. Lea, and Isabel J. Nias
The Cryosphere, 16, 219–236, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-219-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-219-2022, 2022
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In this paper we explore the use of a transferrable and flexible statistical technique to try and untangle the multiple influences on marine-terminating glacier dynamics, as measured from space. We decompose a satellite-derived ice velocity record into ranked sets of static maps and temporal coefficients. We present evidence that the approach can identify velocity variability mainly driven by changes in terminus position and velocity variation mainly driven by subglacial hydrological processes.
Peter A. Tuckett, Jeremy C. Ely, Andrew J. Sole, James M. Lea, Stephen J. Livingstone, Julie M. Jones, and J. Melchior van Wessem
The Cryosphere, 15, 5785–5804, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5785-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5785-2021, 2021
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Lakes form on the surface of the Antarctic Ice Sheet during the summer. These lakes can generate further melt, break up floating ice shelves and alter ice dynamics. Here, we describe a new automated method for mapping surface lakes and apply our technique to the Amery Ice Shelf between 2005 and 2020. Lake area is highly variable between years, driven by large-scale climate patterns. This technique will help us understand the role of Antarctic surface lakes in our warming world.
Douglas P. Steen, Joseph S. Stoner, Jason P. Briner, and Darrell S. Kaufman
Geochronology Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-2021-19, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-2021-19, 2021
Publication in GChron not foreseen
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Paleomagnetic data from Cascade Lake (Brooks Range, Alaska) extend the radiometric-based age model of the sedimentary sequence extending back 21 kyr. Correlated ages based on prominent features in paleomagnetic secular variations (PSV) diverge from the radiometric ages in the upper 1.6 m, by up to about 2000 years at around 4 ka. Four late Holocene cryptotephra in this section support the PSV chronology and suggest the influence of hard water or aged organic material.
Cody C. Routson, Darrell S. Kaufman, Nicholas P. McKay, Michael P. Erb, Stéphanie H. Arcusa, Kendrick J. Brown, Matthew E. Kirby, Jeremiah P. Marsicek, R. Scott Anderson, Gonzalo Jiménez-Moreno, Jessica R. Rodysill, Matthew S. Lachniet, Sherilyn C. Fritz, Joseph R. Bennett, Michelle F. Goman, Sarah E. Metcalfe, Jennifer M. Galloway, Gerrit Schoups, David B. Wahl, Jesse L. Morris, Francisca Staines-Urías, Andria Dawson, Bryan N. Shuman, Daniel G. Gavin, Jeffrey S. Munroe, and Brian F. Cumming
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We present a curated database of western North American Holocene paleoclimate records, which have been screened on length, resolution, and geochronology. The database gathers paleoclimate time series that reflect temperature, hydroclimate, or circulation features from terrestrial and marine sites, spanning a region from Mexico to Alaska. This publicly accessible collection will facilitate a broad range of paleoclimate inquiry.
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Paul D. Zander, Sönke Szidat, Darrell S. Kaufman, Maurycy Żarczyński, Anna I. Poraj-Górska, Petra Boltshauser-Kaltenrieder, and Martin Grosjean
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Recent technological advances allow researchers to obtain radiocarbon ages from smaller samples than previously possible. We investigate the reliability and precision of radiocarbon ages obtained from miniature (11–150 μg C) samples of terrestrial plant fragments taken from sediment cores from Lake Żabińskie, Poland. We further investigate how sampling density (the number of ages per 1000 years) and sample mass (which is related to age precision) influence the performance of age–depth models.
Ellie Broadman, Lorna L. Thurston, Erik Schiefer, Nicholas P. McKay, David Fortin, Jason Geck, Michael G. Loso, Matt Nolan, Stéphanie H. Arcusa, Christopher W. Benson, Rebecca A. Ellerbroek, Michael P. Erb, Cody C. Routson, Charlotte Wiman, A. Jade Wong, and Darrell S. Kaufman
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Rapid climate warming is impacting physical processes in Arctic environments. Glacier–fed lakes are influenced by many of these processes, and they are impacted by the changing behavior of weather, glaciers, and rivers. We present data from weather stations, river gauging stations, lake moorings, and more, following 4 years of environmental monitoring in the watershed of Lake Peters, a glacier–fed lake in Arctic Alaska. These data can help us study the changing dynamics of this remote setting.
Gabriel West, Darrell S. Kaufman, Francesco Muschitiello, Matthias Forwick, Jens Matthiessen, Jutta Wollenburg, and Matt O'Regan
Geochronology, 1, 53–67, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-1-53-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-1-53-2019, 2019
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Robert Tardif, Gregory J. Hakim, Walter A. Perkins, Kaleb A. Horlick, Michael P. Erb, Julien Emile-Geay, David M. Anderson, Eric J. Steig, and David Noone
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An updated Last Millennium Reanalysis is presented, using an expanded multi-proxy database, and proxy models representing the seasonal characteristics of proxy records, in addition to the dual sensitivity to temperature and moisture of tree-ring-width chronologies. We show enhanced skill in spatial reconstructions of key climate variables in the updated reanalysis, compared to an earlier version, resulting from the combined influences of the enhanced proxy network and improved proxy modeling.
Chris S. M. Turney, Helen V. McGregor, Pierre Francus, Nerilie Abram, Michael N. Evans, Hugues Goosse, Lucien von Gunten, Darrell Kaufman, Hans Linderholm, Marie-France Loutre, and Raphael Neukom
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This PAGES (Past Global Changes) 2k (climate of the past 2000 years working group) special issue of Climate of the Past brings together the latest understanding of regional change and impacts from PAGES 2k groups across a range of proxies and regions. The special issue has emerged from a need to determine the magnitude and rate of change of regional and global climate beyond the timescales accessible within the observational record.
Richard H. Levy, Gavin B. Dunbar, Marcus J. Vandergoes, Jamie D. Howarth, Tony Kingan, Alex R. Pyne, Grant Brotherston, Michael Clarke, Bob Dagg, Matthew Hill, Evan Kenton, Steve Little, Darcy Mandeno, Chris Moy, Philip Muldoon, Patrick Doyle, Conrad Raines, Peter Rutland, Delia Strong, Marianna Terezow, Leise Cochrane, Remo Cossu, Sean Fitzsimons, Fabio Florindo, Alexander L. Forrest, Andrew R. Gorman, Darrell S. Kaufman, Min Kyung Lee, Xun Li, Pontus Lurcock, Nicholas McKay, Faye Nelson, Jennifer Purdie, Heidi A. Roop, S. Geoffrey Schladow, Abha Sood, Phaedra Upton, Sharon L. Walker, and Gary S. Wilson
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A new annually resolvable sedimentary record of southern hemisphere climate has been recovered from Lake Ohau, South Island, New Zealand. The Lake Ohau Climate History (LOCH) Project acquired cores from two sites that preserve an 80 m thick sequence of laminated mud that accumulated since the lake formed ~ 17 000 years ago. Cores were recovered using a purpose-built barge and drilling system designed to recover soft sediment from relatively thick sedimentary sequences at water depths up to 100 m.
James M. Lea
Earth Surf. Dynam., 6, 551–561, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-6-551-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-6-551-2018, 2018
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The new, free and easy-to-use tools in this paper (GEEDiT, GEEDiT-Reviewer and MaQiT) allow users to visualise, map and review margins from full satellite records of Landsat 4–8 and Sentinel 1–2 in addition to quantifying these margin changes with unprecedented speed. This allows previously prohibitive volumes of remote-sensing data to be analysed easily, flexibly and rapidly. These tools have potential applications across the geosciences for the exploration and analysis of satellite imagery.
Bryan N. Shuman, Cody Routson, Nicholas McKay, Sherilyn Fritz, Darrell Kaufman, Matthew E. Kirby, Connor Nolan, Gregory T. Pederson, and Jeannine-Marie St-Jacques
Clim. Past, 14, 665–686, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-665-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-665-2018, 2018
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A synthesis of 93 published records reveals that moisture availability increased over large portions of North America over the past 2000 years, the Common Era (CE). In many records, the second millennium CE tended to be wetter than the first millennium CE. The long-term changes formed the background for annual to multi-decade variations, such as "mega-droughts", and also provide a context for amplified rates of hydrologic change today.
Darrell S. Kaufman and PAGES 2k special-issue editorial team
Clim. Past, 14, 593–600, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-593-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-593-2018, 2018
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We explain the procedure used to attain a high and consistent level of data stewardship across a special issue of the journal Climate of the Past. We discuss the challenges related to (1) determining which data are essential for public archival, (2) using data generated by others, and (3) understanding data citations. We anticipate that open-data sharing in paleo sciences will accelerate as the advantages become more evident and as practices that reduce data loss become the accepted convention.
H. S. Sundqvist, D. S. Kaufman, N. P. McKay, N. L. Balascio, J. P. Briner, L. C. Cwynar, H. P. Sejrup, H. Seppä, D. A. Subetto, J. T. Andrews, Y. Axford, J. Bakke, H. J. B. Birks, S. J. Brooks, A. de Vernal, A. E. Jennings, F. C. Ljungqvist, K. M. Rühland, C. Saenger, J. P. Smol, and A. E. Viau
Clim. Past, 10, 1605–1631, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-1605-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-1605-2014, 2014
Related subject area
Discipline: Glaciers | Subject: Climate Interactions
Triggers of the 2022 Larsen B multi-year landfast sea ice breakout and initial glacier response
Climatic control of the surface mass balance of the Patagonian Icefields
On the attribution of industrial-era glacier mass loss to anthropogenic climate change
Distributed summer air temperatures across mountain glaciers in the south-east Tibetan Plateau: temperature sensitivity and comparison with existing glacier datasets
Glacier runoff variations since 1955 in the Maipo River basin, in the semiarid Andes of central Chile
Impact of warming shelf waters on ice mélange and terminus retreat at a large SE Greenland glacier
A long-term dataset of climatic mass balance, snow conditions, and runoff in Svalbard (1957–2018)
Naomi E. Ochwat, Ted A. Scambos, Alison F. Banwell, Robert S. Anderson, Michelle L. Maclennan, Ghislain Picard, Julia A. Shates, Sebastian Marinsek, Liliana Margonari, Martin Truffer, and Erin C. Pettit
The Cryosphere, 18, 1709–1731, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1709-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1709-2024, 2024
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On the Antarctic Peninsula, there is a small bay that had sea ice fastened to the shoreline (
fast ice) for over a decade. The fast ice stabilized the glaciers that fed into the ocean. In January 2022, the fast ice broke away. Using satellite data we found that this was because of low sea ice concentrations and a high long-period ocean wave swell. We find that the glaciers have responded to this event by thinning, speeding up, and retreating by breaking off lots of icebergs at remarkable rates.
Tomás Carrasco-Escaff, Maisa Rojas, René Darío Garreaud, Deniz Bozkurt, and Marius Schaefer
The Cryosphere, 17, 1127–1149, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1127-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1127-2023, 2023
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In this study, we investigate the interplay between climate and the Patagonian Icefields. By modeling the glacioclimatic conditions of the southern Andes, we found that the annual variations in net surface mass change experienced by these icefields are mainly controlled by annual variations in the air pressure field observed near the Drake Passage. Little dependence on main modes of variability was found, suggesting the Drake Passage as a key region for understanding the Patagonian Icefields.
Gerard H. Roe, John Erich Christian, and Ben Marzeion
The Cryosphere, 15, 1889–1905, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1889-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1889-2021, 2021
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The worldwide retreat of mountain glaciers and consequent loss of ice mass is one of the most obvious signs of a changing climate and has significant implications for the hydrology and natural hazards in mountain landscapes. Consistent with our understanding of the human role in temperature change, we demonstrate that the central estimate of the size of the human-caused mass loss is essentially 100 % of the observed loss. This assessment resolves some important inconsistencies in the literature.
Thomas E. Shaw, Wei Yang, Álvaro Ayala, Claudio Bravo, Chuanxi Zhao, and Francesca Pellicciotti
The Cryosphere, 15, 595–614, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-595-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-595-2021, 2021
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Near surface air temperature (Ta) is important for simulating the melting of glaciers, though its variability in space and time on mountain glaciers is still poorly understood. We combine new Ta observations on glacier in Tibet with several glacier datasets around the world to explore the applicability of an existing method to estimate glacier Ta based upon glacier flow distance. We make a first step at generalising a method and highlight the remaining unknowns for this field of research.
Álvaro Ayala, David Farías-Barahona, Matthias Huss, Francesca Pellicciotti, James McPhee, and Daniel Farinotti
The Cryosphere, 14, 2005–2027, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2005-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2005-2020, 2020
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We reconstruct past glacier changes (1955–2016) and estimate the committed ice loss in the Maipo River basin (semi-arid Andes of Chile), with a focus on glacier runoff. We found that glacier volume has decreased by one-fifth since 1955 and that glacier runoff shows a sequence of decreasing maxima starting in a severe drought in 1968. As meltwater originating from the Andes plays a key role in this dry region, our results can be useful for developing adaptation or mitigation strategies.
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
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Kangerlussuaq Glacier in Greenland retreated significantly in the early 2000s and typified the response of calving glaciers to climate change. Satellite images show that it has recently retreated even further. The current retreat follows the appearance of extremely warm surface waters on the continental shelf during the summer of 2016, which likely entered the fjord and caused the rigid mass of sea ice and icebergs, which normally inhibits calving, to melt and break up.
Ward van Pelt, Veijo Pohjola, Rickard Pettersson, Sergey Marchenko, Jack Kohler, Bartłomiej Luks, Jon Ove Hagen, Thomas V. Schuler, Thorben Dunse, Brice Noël, and Carleen Reijmer
The Cryosphere, 13, 2259–2280, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2259-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2259-2019, 2019
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The climate in Svalbard is undergoing amplified change compared to the global mean, which has a strong impact on the climatic mass balance of glaciers and the state of seasonal snow in land areas. In this study we analyze a coupled energy balance–subsurface model dataset, which provides detailed information on distributed climatic mass balance, snow conditions, and runoff across Svalbard between 1957 and 2018.
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Short summary
Here we present summer snowline altitude (SLA) time series for 269 Arctic glaciers. Between 1984 and 2022, SLAs rose ∼ 150 m, equating to a ∼ 127 m shift per 1 °C of summer warming. SLA is most strongly correlated with annual temperature variables, highlighting their dual effect on ablation and accumulation processes. We show that SLAs are rising fastest on low-elevation glaciers and that > 50 % of the studied glaciers could have SLAs that exceed the maximum ice elevation by 2100.
Here we present summer snowline altitude (SLA) time series for 269 Arctic glaciers. Between 1984...
