Title | The 50 year response and future stability of Canada´s Arctic reference glaciers |
Author | Thomson, L; Burgess, D |
Source | POLAR 2018, where the poles come together, abstract proceedings, Open Science Conference; 2018 p. 1212 |
Links | Online - En ligne - complete
volume - volume complet (pdf, 10.5 MB)
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Year | 2018 |
Alt Series | Natural Resources Canada, Contribution Series 20180239 |
Publisher | WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF |
Meeting | POLAR 2018; Davos; CH; June 15-26, 2018 |
Document | book |
Lang. | English |
Media | paper; on-line; digital |
File format | pdf |
Province | Northwest Territories; Nunavut; Yukon |
NTS | 15; 16; 25; 26; 27; 28; 29; 35; 36; 37; 38; 39; 45; 46; 47; 48; 49; 55; 56; 57; 58; 59; 65; 66; 67; 68; 69; 75; 76; 77; 78; 79; 85; 86; 87; 88; 89; 95; 96; 97; 98; 99; 105; 106; 107; 115; 116; 117; 120; 340;
560 |
Area | Canadian Arctic Archipelago; Meighen Island; Melville Island; Devon Island; Axel Heiberg Island; White Glacier |
Lat/Long WENS | -141.0000 -56.0000 90.0000 60.0000 |
Subjects | surficial geology/geomorphology; environmental geology; Nature and Environment; glaciology; glaciers; climate; sea level changes; climate change; ice caps; mass balance; trends; equilibrium line
altitudes; accumulation area ratios; ice transfer rate; Phanerozoic; Cenozoic; Quaternary |
Program | GSC Atlantic Division, Glacier Mass Balance Project |
Released | 2018 06 01 |
Abstract | The Canadian Arctic hosts the largest area of ice outside of Greenland and Antarctica and is currently the largest contributor to modern global sea level rise as a result of Arctic amplification. Since
1960, annual measurements of surface mass balance have been conducted on three ice caps and one mountain glacier on Meighen, Melville, Devon, and Axel Heiberg Island in the Canadian Arctic. Together, these records indicate a trend of increasing mass
loss over the past two decades alongside rising equilibrium line altitudes and shrinking accumulation area ratios. The sensitivity and long-term stability of these glaciers is closely linked to ice dynamics, and specifically the rate of ice transfer
from cold, high elevations to lower, warmer elevations where melt conditions prevail. We present a synthesis of the long-term mass balance records in the Canadian alongside a case study from White Glacier on Axel Heiberg Island, Nunavut, to
demonstrate the role of thinning, retreat, and ice dynamics in the long-term stability of high-Arctic glacier response. |
Summary | (Plain Language Summary, not published) Glaciers and ice caps in the Canadian Arctic are currently the largest contributors to global sea-level rise outside of the continental ice sheets of
Antarctica and Greenland. In this study, long-term in-situ glacier mass balance observations from four reference glaciers in the Canadian Arctic will be presented to highlight the impacts of recent climate warming on the land ice in this region.
Detailed observations from the White Glacier on Axel Heiberg Island, NU will be presented to indicate how dynamic glaciers in Arctic Canada are likely to respond to future warming predicted for this region. |
GEOSCAN ID | 311335 |
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