Large interannual variability in supraglacial lakes around East Antarctica.

Autor: Arthur JF; Department of Geography, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK. jennifer.arthur@durham.ac.uk., Stokes CR; Department of Geography, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK., Jamieson SSR; Department of Geography, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK., Rachel Carr J; School of Geography, Politics and Sociology, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK., Leeson AA; Lancaster Environment Centre/Data Science Institute, Lancaster University, Bailrigg, Lancaster, LA1 4YW, UK., Verjans V; School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Nature communications [Nat Commun] 2022 Mar 31; Vol. 13 (1), pp. 1711. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Mar 31.
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29385-3
Abstrakt: Antarctic supraglacial lakes (SGLs) have been linked to ice shelf collapse and the subsequent acceleration of inland ice flow, but observations of SGLs remain relatively scarce and their interannual variability is largely unknown. This makes it difficult to assess whether some ice shelves are close to thresholds of stability under climate warming. Here, we present the first observations of SGLs across the entire East Antarctic Ice Sheet over multiple melt seasons (2014-2020). Interannual variability in SGL volume is >200% on some ice shelves, but patterns are highly asynchronous. More extensive, deeper SGLs correlate with higher summer (December-January-February) air temperatures, but comparisons with modelled melt and runoff are complex. However, we find that modelled January melt and the ratio of November firn air content to summer melt are important predictors of SGL volume on some potentially vulnerable ice shelves, suggesting large increases in SGLs should be expected under future atmospheric warming.
(© 2022. The Author(s).)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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