Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.


Science 21 July 2000:
Vol. 289. no. 5478, pp. 428 - 430
DOI: 10.1126/science.289.5478.428

Reports

Greenland Ice Sheet: High-Elevation Balance and Peripheral Thinning

W. Krabill,1* W. Abdalati,2 E. Frederick,3 S. Manizade,3 C. Martin,3 J. Sonntag,3 R. Swift,3 R. Thomas,3 W. Wright,1 J. Yungel3

Aircraft laser-altimeter surveys over northern Greenland in 1994 and 1999 have been coupled with previously reported data from southern Greenland to analyze the recent mass-balance of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Above 2000 meters elevation, the ice sheet is in balance on average but has some regions of local thickening or thinning. Thinning predominates at lower elevations, with rates exceeding 1 meter per year close to the coast. Interpolation of our results between flight lines indicates a net loss of about 51 cubic kilometers of ice per year from the entire ice sheet, sufficient to raise sea level by 0.13 millimeter per year--approximately 7% of the observed rise.

1 Laboratory for Hydrospheric Processes, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and
3 EG&G Services, Wallops Flight Facility, Building N-159, Wallops Island, VA 23337, USA.
2 Laboratory for Hydrospheric Processes, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Building 33, Room A225, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: krabill{at}osb1.wff.nasa.gov


Read the Full Text



THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Partitioning Recent Greenland Mass Loss.
M. van den Broeke, J. Bamber, J. Ettema, E. Rignot, E. Schrama, W. J. van de Berg, E. van Meijgaard, I. Velicogna, and B. Wouters (2009)
Science 326, 984-986
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Inaugural Article: Tipping elements in the Earth's climate system.
T. M. Lenton, H. Held, E. Kriegler, J. W. Hall, W. Lucht, S. Rahmstorf, and H. J. Schellnhuber (2008)
PNAS 105, 1786-1793
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Postglacial coastal evolution: Ice-ocean-solid Earth interactions in a period of rapid climate change.
W.R. Peltier (2007)
Geological Society of America Special Papers 426, 5-28
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Determining the contribution of Antarctica to sea-level rise using data assimilation methods.
R. J Arthern and R. C.A Hindmarsh (2006)
Phil Trans R Soc A 364, 1841-1865
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Simulating Arctic climate warmth and icefield retreat in the last interglaciation..
B. L. Otto-Bliesner, S. J. Marshall, J. T. Overpeck, G. H. Miller, A. Hu, and CAPE Last Interglacial Project members (2006)
Science 311, 1751-1753
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Snowfall-Driven Growth in East Antarctic Ice Sheet Mitigates Recent Sea-Level Rise.
C. H. Davis, Y. Li, J. R. McConnell, M. M. Frey, and E. Hanna (2005)
Science 308, 1898-1901
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Accelerated Sea-Level Rise from West Antarctica.
R. Thomas, E. Rignot, G. Casassa, P. Kanagaratnam, C. Acuna, T. Akins, H. Brecher, E. Frederick, P. Gogineni, W. Krabill, et al. (2004)
Science 306, 255-258
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Mass Balance of Polar Ice Sheets.
E. Rignot and R. H. Thomas (2002)
Science 297, 1502-1506
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Detection of a Large-Scale Mass Redistribution in the Terrestrial System Since 1998.
C. M. Cox and B. F. Chao (2002)
Science 297, 831-833
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Rapid Wastage of Alaska Glaciers and Their Contribution to Rising Sea Level.
A. A. Arendt, K. A. Echelmeyer, W. D. Harrison, C. S. Lingle, and V. B. Valentine (2002)
Science 297, 382-386
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Sea level is rising: Do we know why?.
M. F. Meier and J. M. Wahr (2002)
PNAS 99, 6524-6526
   Full Text »    PDF »
Mass Balance of the Greenland Ice Sheet at High Elevations.
R. Thomas, T. Akins, B. Csatho, M. Fahnestock, P. Gogineni, C. Kim, and J. Sonntag (2000)
Science 289, 426-428
   Abstract »    Full Text »



To Advertise     Find Products


Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)