Mass balance of the Greenland ice sheet from 1958 to 2007

E. Rignot; J.E. Box; E. Burgess; E. Hanna

doi:10.1029/2008GL035417

Mass balance of the Greenland ice sheet from 1958 to 2007

E. Rignot
, J.E. Box
, E. Burgess
, E. Hanna

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review

318 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We combine estimates of the surface mass balance, SMB, of the Greenland ice sheet for years 1958 to 2007 with measurements of the temporal variability in ice discharge, D, to deduce the total ice sheet mass balance. During that time period, we find a robust correlation (R² = 0.83) between anomalies in SMB and in D, which we use to reconstruct a continuous series of total ice sheet mass balance. We. find that the ice sheet was losing 110 ± 70 Gt/yr in the 1960s, 30 ± 50 Gt/yr or near balance in the 1970s-1980s, and 97 ± 47 Gt/yr in 1996 increasing rapidly to 267 ± 38 Gt/yr in 2007. Multi-year variations in ice discharge, themselves related to variations in SMB, cause 60 ± 20% more variation in total mass balance SMB, and therefore dominate the ice sheet mass budget.

Original language	English
Article number	L20502
Number of pages	5
Journal	Geophysical Research Letters
Volume	35
Issue number	20
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1029/2008GL035417
Publication status	Published - Oct 2008
Externally published	Yes

Programme Area

Programme Area 5: Nature and Climate

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10.1029/2008GL035417Licence: Unspecified

Cite this

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title = "Mass balance of the Greenland ice sheet from 1958 to 2007",

abstract = "We combine estimates of the surface mass balance, SMB, of the Greenland ice sheet for years 1958 to 2007 with measurements of the temporal variability in ice discharge, D, to deduce the total ice sheet mass balance. During that time period, we find a robust correlation (R2 = 0.83) between anomalies in SMB and in D, which we use to reconstruct a continuous series of total ice sheet mass balance. We. find that the ice sheet was losing 110 ± 70 Gt/yr in the 1960s, 30 ± 50 Gt/yr or near balance in the 1970s-1980s, and 97 ± 47 Gt/yr in 1996 increasing rapidly to 267 ± 38 Gt/yr in 2007. Multi-year variations in ice discharge, themselves related to variations in SMB, cause 60 ± 20\% more variation in total mass balance SMB, and therefore dominate the ice sheet mass budget.",

author = "E. Rignot and J.E. Box and E. Burgess and E. Hanna",

note = "Funding Information: E.-A.W wishes to thank the University of St Andrews (Purdie Fund) for the award of a research studentship. The work was also supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council grant GK/K06389.",

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AU - Rignot, E.

AU - Box, J.E.

AU - Burgess, E.

AU - Hanna, E.

N1 - Funding Information: E.-A.W wishes to thank the University of St Andrews (Purdie Fund) for the award of a research studentship. The work was also supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council grant GK/K06389.

PY - 2008/10

Y1 - 2008/10

N2 - We combine estimates of the surface mass balance, SMB, of the Greenland ice sheet for years 1958 to 2007 with measurements of the temporal variability in ice discharge, D, to deduce the total ice sheet mass balance. During that time period, we find a robust correlation (R2 = 0.83) between anomalies in SMB and in D, which we use to reconstruct a continuous series of total ice sheet mass balance. We. find that the ice sheet was losing 110 ± 70 Gt/yr in the 1960s, 30 ± 50 Gt/yr or near balance in the 1970s-1980s, and 97 ± 47 Gt/yr in 1996 increasing rapidly to 267 ± 38 Gt/yr in 2007. Multi-year variations in ice discharge, themselves related to variations in SMB, cause 60 ± 20% more variation in total mass balance SMB, and therefore dominate the ice sheet mass budget.

AB - We combine estimates of the surface mass balance, SMB, of the Greenland ice sheet for years 1958 to 2007 with measurements of the temporal variability in ice discharge, D, to deduce the total ice sheet mass balance. During that time period, we find a robust correlation (R2 = 0.83) between anomalies in SMB and in D, which we use to reconstruct a continuous series of total ice sheet mass balance. We. find that the ice sheet was losing 110 ± 70 Gt/yr in the 1960s, 30 ± 50 Gt/yr or near balance in the 1970s-1980s, and 97 ± 47 Gt/yr in 1996 increasing rapidly to 267 ± 38 Gt/yr in 2007. Multi-year variations in ice discharge, themselves related to variations in SMB, cause 60 ± 20% more variation in total mass balance SMB, and therefore dominate the ice sheet mass budget.

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DO - 10.1029/2008GL035417

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SN - 0094-8276

VL - 35

JO - Geophysical Research Letters

JF - Geophysical Research Letters

IS - 20

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ER -

Mass balance of the Greenland ice sheet from 1958 to 2007

Abstract

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