Seasonal evolution of supraglacial lakes on an East Antarctic outlet glacier
File(s)
Author(s)
Langley, ES
Leeson, AA
Stokes, CR
Jamieson, SSR
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Supraglacial lakes are known to influence ice melt and ice flow on the Greenland ice sheet and potentially cause ice shelf disintegration on the Antarctic Peninsula. In East Antarctica, however, our understanding of their behavior and impact is more limited. Using >150 optical satellite images and meteorological records from 2000 to 2013, we provide the first multiyear analysis of lake evolution on Langhovde Glacier, Dronning Maud Land (69°11′S, 39°32′E). We mapped 7990 lakes and 855 surface channels up to 18.1 km inland (~670 m above sea level) from the grounding line and document three pathways of lake demise: (i) refreezing, (ii) drainage to the englacial/subglacial environment (on the floating ice), and (iii) overflow into surface channels (on both the floating and grounded ice). The parallels between these mechanisms, and those observed on Greenland and the Antarctic Peninsula, suggest that lakes may similarly affect rates and patterns of ice melt, ice flow, and ice shelf disintegration in East Antarctica.
Date Issued
2016-08-08
Date Acceptance
2016-08-01
Citation
Geophysical Research Letters, 2016, 43 (16), pp.8563-8571
ISSN
0094-8276
Publisher
Wiley
Start Page
8563
End Page
8571
Journal / Book Title
Geophysical Research Letters
Volume
43
Issue
16
Copyright Statement
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Subjects
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
MD Multidisciplinary
Publication Status
Published