The unquantified mass loss of Northern Hemisphere marine-terminating glaciers from 2000–2020

William Kochtitzky (), Luke Copland, Wesley Wychen, Romain Hugonnet, Regine Hock, Julian A. Dowdeswell, Toby Benham, Tazio Strozzi, Andrey Glazovsky, Ivan Lavrentiev, David R. Rounce, Romain Millan, Alison Cook, Abigail Dalton, Hester Jiskoot, Jade Cooley, Jacek Jania and Francisco Navarro
Additional contact information
William Kochtitzky: University of Ottawa
Luke Copland: University of Ottawa
Wesley Wychen: University of Ottawa
Romain Hugonnet: LEGOS, Université de Toulouse, CNES, CNRS, IRD, UPS
Regine Hock: University of Oslo
Julian A. Dowdeswell: University of Cambridge
Toby Benham: University of Cambridge
Tazio Strozzi: Gamma Remote Sensing
Andrey Glazovsky: Russian Academy of Sciences
Ivan Lavrentiev: Russian Academy of Sciences
David R. Rounce: Carnegie Mellon University
Romain Millan: Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement, CNES
Alison Cook: University of Ottawa
Abigail Dalton: University of Ottawa
Hester Jiskoot: University of Lethbridge
Jade Cooley: University of Lethbridge
Jacek Jania: University of Silesia
Francisco Navarro: Universidad Politécnica de Madrid

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract In the Northern Hemisphere, ~1500 glaciers, accounting for 28% of glacierized area outside the Greenland Ice Sheet, terminate in the ocean. Glacier mass loss at their ice-ocean interface, known as frontal ablation, has not yet been comprehensively quantified. Here, we estimate decadal frontal ablation from measurements of ice discharge and terminus position change from 2000 to 2020. We bias-correct and cross-validate estimates and uncertainties using independent sources. Frontal ablation of marine-terminating glaciers contributed an average of 44.47 ± 6.23 Gt a−1 of ice to the ocean from 2000 to 2010, and 51.98 ± 4.62 Gt a−1 from 2010 to 2020. Ice discharge from 2000 to 2020 was equivalent to 2.10 ± 0.22 mm of sea-level rise and comprised approximately 79% of frontal ablation, with the remainder from terminus retreat. Near-coastal areas most impacted include Austfonna, Svalbard, and central Severnaya Zemlya, the Russian Arctic, and a few Alaskan fjords.

Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-33231-x

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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-33231-x

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