TY - JOUR
T1 - Low elevation of Svalbard glaciers drives high mass loss variability
AU - Noël, Brice
AU - Jakobs, C. L.
AU - van Pelt, W. J.J.
AU - Lhermitte, S.
AU - Wouters, B.
AU - Kohler, J.
AU - Hagen, J. O.
AU - Luks, B.
AU - Reijmer, C. H.
AU - van de Berg, W. J.
AU - van den Broeke, M. R.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Compared to other Arctic ice masses, Svalbard glaciers are low-elevated with flat interior accumulation areas, resulting in a marked peak in their current hypsometry (area-elevation distribution) at ~450 m above sea level. Since summer melt consistently exceeds winter snowfall, these low-lying glaciers can only survive by refreezing a considerable fraction of surface melt and rain in the porous firn layer covering their accumulation zones. We use a high-resolution climate model to show that modest atmospheric warming in the mid-1980s forced the firn zone to retreat upward by ~100 m to coincide with the hypsometry peak. This led to a rapid areal reduction of firn cover available for refreezing, and strongly increased runoff from dark, bare ice areas, amplifying mass loss from all elevations. As the firn line fluctuates around the hypsometry peak in the current climate, Svalbard glaciers will continue to lose mass and show high sensitivity to temperature perturbations.
AB - Compared to other Arctic ice masses, Svalbard glaciers are low-elevated with flat interior accumulation areas, resulting in a marked peak in their current hypsometry (area-elevation distribution) at ~450 m above sea level. Since summer melt consistently exceeds winter snowfall, these low-lying glaciers can only survive by refreezing a considerable fraction of surface melt and rain in the porous firn layer covering their accumulation zones. We use a high-resolution climate model to show that modest atmospheric warming in the mid-1980s forced the firn zone to retreat upward by ~100 m to coincide with the hypsometry peak. This led to a rapid areal reduction of firn cover available for refreezing, and strongly increased runoff from dark, bare ice areas, amplifying mass loss from all elevations. As the firn line fluctuates around the hypsometry peak in the current climate, Svalbard glaciers will continue to lose mass and show high sensitivity to temperature perturbations.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85090968159&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41467-020-18356-1
DO - 10.1038/s41467-020-18356-1
M3 - Article
C2 - 32929066
AN - SCOPUS:85090968159
SN - 2041-1723
VL - 11
SP - 1
EP - 8
JO - Nature Communications
JF - Nature Communications
IS - 1
M1 - 4597
ER -
