Basal crevasses on the Larsen C Ice Shelf, Antarctica: Implications for meltwater ponding and hydrofracture

Geophysical Research Letters

Volumn 39, Issue 16, 2012, Pages

  McGrath, Daniel ^a   Steffen, Konrad ^a   Rajaram, Harihar ^b   Scambos, Ted ^a   Abdalati, Waleed ^a,c   Rignot, Eric ^d,e  

^a UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO   (United States)

^b UCB 450   (United States)

^c NASA HEADQUARTERS   (United States)

^d UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

^e CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

GROUND PENETRATING RADAR SYSTEMS; PONDING; SATELLITE IMAGERY;

ANTARCTICA; BENDING STRESS; COMPRESSIONAL; GRAVITATIONAL FORCES; GROUND PENETRATING RADAR; HIGH RESOLUTION; HIGH RESOLUTION IMAGERY; HYDRO-FRACTURE; ICE SHELVES; ICE THICKNESS; IN-SITU; PROPAGATION DISTANCES; STRUCTURAL FEATURE; SURFACE DEPRESSIONS; SURFACE FEATURE;

ICE;

CREVASSE; FRACTURE PROPAGATION; GPS; GROUND PENETRATING RADAR; HYDRAULIC FRACTURE; ICE THICKNESS; MELTWATER; SATELLITE IMAGERY; SHELF BREAK;

AMERY ICE SHELF; ANTARCTICA; EAST ANTARCTICA; GETZ ICE SHELF; LARSEN ICE SHELF; WEST ANTARCTICA;

EID: 84865740924     PISSN: 00948276     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1029/2012GL052413     Document Type: Article

References (41)

1. Bassis, J. N., and C. C. Walker (2012), Upper and lower limits on the stability of calving glaciers from the yield strength envelope of ice, Proc. R. Soc. A, 468, 913-931, doi:10.1098/rspa.2011.0422.
2. Bindschadler, R., D. G. Vaughan, and P. Vornberger (2011), Variability of basal melt beneath the Pine Island Glacier ice shelf, West Antarctica, J. Glaciol., 57(204), 581-595, doi:10.3189/002214311797409802.
3. Burton, J. C., J. M. Amundson, D. S. Abbot, A. Boghosian, L. M. Cathles, S. Correa-Legisos, K. N. Darnell, N. Guttenberg, D. M. Holland, and D. R. MacAyeal (2012), Laboratory investigations of iceberg capsize dynamics, energy dissipation and tsunamigenesis, J. Geophys. Res., 117, F01007, doi:10.1029/2011JF002055.
4. Cook, A. J., and D. G. Vaughan (2010), Overview of areal changes of the ice shelves on the Antarctic Peninsula over the past 50 years, Cryosphere, 4, 77-98, doi:10.5194/tc-4-77-2010.
5. Das, S., I. Joughin, M. D. Behn, I. M. Howat, M. A. King, D. Lizarralde, and M. P. Bhattia (2008), Fracture propagation to the base of the Greenland Ice Sheet during supraglacial lake drainage, Science, 320, 778-781, doi:10.1126/science.1153360. (Pubitemid 351929623)
6. Doake, C. S. M., H. F. J. Corr, H. Rott, P. Skvarca, and N. W. Young (1998), Breakup and conditions for stability of the northern Larsen Ice Shelf, Antarctica, Nature, 391, 778-780, doi:10.1038/35832. (Pubitemid 28099672)
7. Förste, C., et al. (2008), The GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam/Groupe de Recherche de Geodesie Spatiale satellite-only and combined gravity field models: EIGEN-GL04S1 and EIGEN-GL04C, J. Geod., 82, 331-346, doi:10.1007/s00190-007-0183-8.
8. Fountain, A. G., R. W. Jacobel, R. Schilchting, and P. Jansson (2005), Fractures as the main pathways of water flow in temperate glaciers, Nature, 433, 618-621, doi:10.1038/nature03296. (Pubitemid 40282991)
9. Fricker, H. A., and L. Padman (2012), Thirty years of elevation change on Antarctic Peninsula ice shelves from mulitmission satellite radar altime-try, J. Geophys. Res., 117, C02026, doi:10.1029/2011JC007126.
10. Gilbert, R., and E. W. Domack (2003), Sedimentary record of disintegrating ice shelves in a warming climate, Antarctic Peninsula, Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 4(4), 1038, doi:10.1029/2002GC000441.
11. Glasser, N. F., and T. A. Scambos (2008), A structural glaciological analysis of the 2002 Larsen B ice shelf collapse, J. Glaciol., 54(184), 3-16, doi:10.3189/002214308784409017.
12. Glasser, N. F., B. Kulessa, A. Luckman, D. Jansen, E. C. King, P. R. Sammonds, T. A. Scambos, and K. C. Jezek (2009), Surface structure and stability of the Larsen C ice shelf, Antarctic Peninsula, J. Glaciol., 55(191), 400-410, doi:10.3189/002214309788816597.
13. Guttenberg, N., D. S. Abbot, J. M. Amundson, J. C. Burton, L. Mac Cathles, D. R. MacAyeal, and W. W. Zhang (2011), A computational investigation of iceberg capsize as a driver of explosive ice shelf disintegration, Ann. Glaciol., 52(59), 51-59, doi:10.3189/172756411799096178.
14. Haran, T., J. Bohlander, T. Scambos, T. Painter, and M. Fahnestock (2005), MODIS mosaic of Antarctica (MOA) image map, updated 2006, http://nsidc.org/data/nsidc-0280.html, Natl. Snow and Ice Data Cent., Boulder, Colo.
15. Holland, P. R., H. F. J. Corr, H. D. Pritchard, D. G. Vaughan, R. J. Arthern, A. Jenkins, and M. Tedesco (2011), The air content of Larsen Ice Shelf, Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L10503, doi:10.1029/2011GL047245.
16. Humbert, A., and D. Steinhage (2011), The evolution of the western rift area of the Fimbul Ice Shelf, Antarctica, Cryosphere, 5, 931-944, doi:10.5194/tc-5-931-2011.
17. Jansen, D., B. Kulessa, P. R. Sammonds, A. Luckman, E. C. King, and N. F. Glasser (2010), Present stability of the Larsen C ice shelf, Antarctic Peninsula, J. Glaciol., 56(198), 593-600, doi:10.3189/002214310793146223.
18. Jezek, K. C., C. R. Bentley, and J. W. Clough (1979), Electromagnetic sounding of bottom crevasses on the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica, J. Glaciol., 24(90), 321-330.
19. Khazendar, A., E. Rignot, and E. Larour (2007), Larsen B Ice Shelf rheol-ogy preceding its disintegration inferred by a control method, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L19503, doi:10.1029/2007GL030980. (Pubitemid 350263018)
20. Khazendar, A., E. Rignot, and E. Larour (2011), Acceleration and spatial rheology of Larsen C Ice Shelf, Antarctic Peninsula, Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L09502, doi:10.1029/2011GL046775.
21. Luckman, A., D. Jansen, B. Kulessa, E. C. King, P. Sammonds, and D. I. Benn (2012), Basal crevasses in Larsen C Ice Shelf and implications for their global abundance, Cryosphere, 6, 113-123, doi:10.5194/tc-6-113-2012.
22. MacAyeal, D. R., T. A. Scambos, C. Hulbe, and M. Fahnestock (2003), Catastrophic ice-shelf break-up by an ice-shelf-fragment-capsize mechanism, J. Glaciol., 49(164), 22-36, doi:10.3189/172756503781830863. (Pubitemid 37529241)
23. McGrath, D., K. Steffen, T. Scambos, H. Rajaram, G. Casassa, and J. L. Rodriguez Lagos (2012), Basal crevasses and associated surface crevas-sing on the Larsen C ice shelf, Antarctica, and their role in ice-shelf instability, Ann. Glaciol., 58(60), 10-18, doi:10.3189/2012AoG60A005.
24. Nicholls, K. W., C. J. Pudsey, and P. Morris (2004), Summertime water masses off the northern Larsen C Ice Shelf, Antarctica, Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, L09309, doi:10.1029/2004GL019924. (Pubitemid 39026616)
25. Orheim, O. (1982), Radio echo-sounding of Riiser-Larsenisen, Ann. Glaciol., 3, 355.
26. Padman, L., H. A. Fricker, R. Coleman, S. Howard, and L. Erofeeva (2002), A new tide model for the Antarctic ice shelves and seas, Ann. Glaciol., 34, 247-254, doi:10.3189/172756402781817752. (Pubitemid 34866117)
27. Rignot, E., G. Casassa, P. Gogineni, W. Krabill, A. Rivera, and R. Thomas (2004), Accelerated discharge from the Antarctic Peninsula following the collapse of Larsen B ice shelf, Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, L18401, doi:10.1029/2004GL020697. (Pubitemid 39660802)
28. Rott, H., P. Skvarca, and T. Nagler (1996), Rapid collapse of northern Larsen Ice Shelf, Antarct. Sci., 271, 788-792.
29. Scambos, T. A., C. Hulbe, M. Fahnestock, and J. Bohlander (2000), The link between climate warming and break-up of ice shelves in the Antarctic Peninsula, J. Glaciol., 46, 516-530, doi:10.3189/172756500781833043. (Pubitemid 32065360)
30. Scambos, T. A., C. Hulbe, and M. Fahnestock (2003), Climate-induced ice shelf disintegration in the Antarctic Peninsula, in Antarctic Peninsula Climate Variability: Historical and Paleoenvironmental Perspectives, Antarct. Res. Ser., vol. 79, edited by E. Domack et al., pp. 79-92, AGU, Washington, D. C., doi:10.1029/AR079p0079.
31. Scambos, T. A., H. A. Fricker, C.-C. Liu, J. Bohlander, J. Fastook, A. Sargent, R. Massom, and A.-M. Wu (2009), Ice shelf disintegration by plate bending and hydro-fracture: Satellite observations and model results of the 2008 Wilkins ice shelf break-ups, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 280, 51-60, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2008.12.027.
32. Shabtaie, S., and C. R. Bentley (1982), Tabular icebergs: Implications from geophysical studies of ice shelves, J. Glaciol., 28(100), 413-430.
33. Shepherd, A., D. Wingham, T. Payne, and P. Skvarca (2003), Larsen Ice Shelf has progressively thinned, Science, 302(5646), 856-859, doi:10.1126/science.1089768. (Pubitemid 37339623)
34. Swithinbank, C. (1977), Glaciological research in the Antarctic Peninsula, Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London, Ser. B, 279, 161-183, doi:10.1098/rstb.1977.0080.
35. Van den Broeke, M. (2005), Strong surface melting preceded collapse of Antarctic Peninsula ice shelf, Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, L12815, doi:10.1029/2005GL023247. (Pubitemid 41398480)
36. Van der Veen, C. J. (1998), Fracture mechanics approach to penetration of surface crevasses on glaciers, Cold Reg. Sci. Technol., 27, 31-47, doi:10.1016/S0165-232X(97)00022-0. (Pubitemid 28393356)
37. Van der Veen, C. J. (2007), Fracture propagation as means of rapidly transferring surface meltwater to the base of glaciers, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L01501, doi:10.1029/2006GL028385. (Pubitemid 47277731)
38. Vaughan, D. G. (2006), Recent trends in melting conditions on the Antarctic Peninsula and their implications for ice-sheet mass balance and sea level, Arct. Antarct. Alp. Res., 38(1), 147-152, doi:10.1657/1523-0430 (2006)038[0147:RTIMCO]2.0.CO;2. (Pubitemid 43276021)
39. Vaughan, D. G., G. J. Marshall, W. M. Connolley, C.Parkinson, R. Mulvaney, D. A. Hodgson, J. C. King, C. J. Pudsey, and J. Turner (2003), Recent rapid regional climate warming on the Antarctic Peninsula, Clim. Change, 60, 243-274, doi:10.1023/A:1026021217991. (Pubitemid 37365191)
40. Vieli, A., A. J. Payne, A. Shepherd, and Z. Du (2007), Causes of pre-collapse changes of the Larsen B ice shelf: Numerical modelling and assimilation of satellite observations, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 259, 297-306, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2007.04.050. (Pubitemid 46971664)
41. Weertman, J. (1973), Can a water-filled crevasse reach the bottom surface of a glacier?, IAHS Publ., 95, 139-145.