Journal
ANNALS OF GLACIOLOGY
Volume 54, Issue 63, Pages 111-119Publisher
CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.3189/2013AoG63A517
Keywords
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Funding
- US National Science Foundation [ANT-1043649]
- NASA [NNX11AO23G]
- DFG (German Research Foundation) [BR2105 9-1]
- National Plan of RD (Spain) [CTM2011-28980]
- ESF (European Science Foundation) ERANET Europolar IMCOAST project (BMBF) [AZ 03F061 7B]
- NASA [NNX11AO23G, 140151] Funding Source: Federal RePORTER
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Glaciers on King George Island, Antarctica, have shown retreat and surface lowering in recent decades, concurrent with increasing air temperatures. A large portion of the glacier perimeter is ocean-terminating, suggesting possible large mass losses due to calving and submarine melting. Here we estimate the ice discharge into the ocean for the King George Island ice cap. L-band synthetic aperture radar images covering the time-span January 2008 to January 2011 over King George Island are processed using an intensity-tracking algorithm to obtain surface velocity measurements. Pixel offsets from 40 pairs of radar images are analysed and inverted to estimate a weighted average surface velocity field. Ice thicknesses are derived from simple principles of ice flow mechanics using the computed surface velocity fields and in situ thickness data. The maximum ice surface speeds reach >225 m a(-1), and the total ice discharge for the analysed flux gates of King George Island is estimated to be 0.720 +/- 0.428 Gt a(-1), corresponding to a specific mass loss of 0.64 +/- 0.38 m w.e. a(-1) over the area of the entire ice cap (1127 km(2)).
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