ABSTRACT: Surface mass balance of the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf and Ice Rise, Northern Ellesmere Island, Canada.

CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Abstract

We present an updated surface mass balance record for the (floating) Ward Hunt Ice Shelf and associated (grounded) Ice Rise (Ellesmere Island, Canada) and, using a simple temperature-index melt model, extend the record until the end of the 21st century. The surface mass balance of the ice shelf and ice rise follows the temporal pattern seen on other High Arctic glaciers, even though the overall magnitude of the observed mass losses has been comparatively low. Nevertheless, we hypothesize that the gradual, but continuous, mass losses over the last century have weakened the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf sufficiently to raise concerns about an irreversible disintegration in the near future. The floating ice shelf is particularly precarious situation, as its mass balance is not 'buffered' by ice input from upstream land glaciers. Results further suggest that mass losses at the bottom of the ice shelf are of greater in magnitude and therefore more important for overall ice shelf thickness and stability than mass losses at the upper ice boundary. The Ward Hunt Ice Shelf appears to be currently adjusting its vertical and horizontal dimensions to the changing climatic and oceanic conditions - an adjustment process that may ultimately include its complete disappearance. This would leave the Ward Hunt Ice Rise as one of the last remnants of the once much more extensive ice shelves along the northern coast of Ellesmere Island, although its long-term survival is also threatened by current and predicted future climatic conditions.

Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology