Articles | Volume 20, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-1279-2026
© Author(s) 2026. 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-20-1279-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
18 Feb 2026
Research article |
| 18 Feb 2026
| 18 Feb 2026
Role of precipitation and extreme precipitation events on the variability of ice core surface mass balances in Dronning Maud Land: insights from RACMO2.3 and statistical downscaling
Sarah Wauthy
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Laboratoire de Glaciologie, Département Géosciences, Environnement et Société (DGES), Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium
Laboratoire G-Time, Département Géosciences, Environnement et Société (DGES), Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium
Quentin Dalaiden
Earth and Life Institute (ELI), Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain), Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center (NERSC) and Bjerknes Center for Climate Research, Bergen, Norway
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Short summary
The surface mass balance (SMB) is one of the main drivers of future Antarctic mass changes. The interannual variability of the SMB is dominated by precipitation and extreme precipitation events (EPEs). In this study, we analyze the role of precipitation and EPEs in the contrasting SMB trends observed in the ice-core records of three adjacent ice rises. Our results show that precipitation and EPEs alone cannot explain the observed contrasts and suggest that other processes may be at work.
The surface mass balance (SMB) is one of the main drivers of future Antarctic mass changes. The...
