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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS,
VOL. 31,
L18402,
doi:10.1029/2004GL020670,
2004
Glacier acceleration and thinning after ice shelf collapse in the Larsen B embayment, Antarctica
T. A. Scambos
National Snow and Ice Data Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA
J. A. Bohlander
National Snow and Ice Data Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA
C. A. Shuman
Oceans and Ice Branch, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA
P. Skvarca
División Glaciología, Instituto Antártico Argentino, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Abstract
Ice velocities derived from five Landsat 7 images acquired between January 2000 and February 2003 show a two- to six-fold
increase in centerline speed of four glaciers flowing into the now-collapsed section of the Larsen B Ice Shelf. Satellite
laser altimetry from ICESat indicates the surface of Hektoria Glacier lowered by up to 38 ± 6 m in a six-month period beginning
one year after the break-up in March 2002. Smaller elevation losses are observed for Crane and Jorum glaciers over a later
5-month period. Two glaciers south of the collapse area, Flask and Leppard, show little change in speed or elevation. Seasonal
variations in speed preceding the large post-collapse velocity increases suggest that both summer melt percolation and changes
in the stress field due to shelf removal play a major role in glacier dynamics.
Received 3
June
2004;
accepted 26
August
2004;
published 22
September
2004.
Index Terms: 1640 Global Change: Remote sensing; 1827 Hydrology: Glaciology (1863); 1863 Hydrology: Snow and ice (1827).
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Citation: Scambos, T. A., J. A. Bohlander, C. A. Shuman, and P. Skvarca
(2004),
Glacier acceleration and thinning after ice shelf collapse in the Larsen B embayment, Antarctica,
Geophys. Res. Lett.,
31,
L18402,
doi:10.1029/2004GL020670.
Copyright 2004 by the American Geophysical Union.
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