Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Factors Contributing to Recent Arctic Ice Shelf Losses

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Arctic Ice Shelves and Ice Islands

Part of the book series: Springer Polar Sciences ((SPPS))

Abstract

A review of historical literature and remote sensing imagery indicates that the ice shelves of northern Ellesmere Island have undergone losses during the 1930s/1940s to 1960s, and particularly since the start of the twenty-first century. These losses have occurred due to a variety of different mechanisms, some of which have resulted in long-term reductions in ice shelf thickness and stability (e.g., warming air temperatures, warming ocean temperatures, negative surface and basal mass balance, reductions in glacier inputs), while others have been more important in defining the exact time at which a pre-weakened ice shelf has undergone calving (e.g., presence of open water at ice shelf terminus, loss of adjacent multiyear landfast sea ice, reductions in nearby epishelf lake and fiord ice cover). While no single mechanism can be isolated, it is clear that they have all contributed to the marked recent losses of Arctic ice shelves, and that the outlook for the future survival of these features is poor.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ahlnès, K., & Sackinger, W. M. (1988). Offshore winds and pack ice movement episodes off Ellesmere Island. In W. M. Sackinger & M. O. Jeffries (Eds.), Port and ocean engineering under Arctic conditions. Volume I (p. 271–286). Fairbanks: Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks.

    Google Scholar 

  • AMAP. (2012). Arctic climate issues 2011: Changes in Arctic snow, water, ice and permafrost. Oslo: Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berthier, E., Scambos, T. A., & Shuman, C. A. (2012). Mass loss of Larsen B tributary glaciers (Antarctic Peninsula) unabated since 2002. Geophysical Research Letters, 39, L13501. doi:10.1029/2012GL051755.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beszczynska-Möller, A., Fahrbach, E., Schauer, U., & Hansen, E. (2012). Variability in Atlantic water temperature and transport at the entrance to the Arctic Ocean, 1997–2010. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 69, 852–863.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Box, J. E. (2013). Greenland Ice Sheet mass balance reconstruction. Part II: Surface mass balance (1840–2010). Journal of Climate, 26, 6974–6989. doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-12-00518.1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Braun, C. (2017). The surface mass balance of the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf and Ward Hunt Ice Rise, Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada. In L. Copland & D. Mueller (Eds.), Arctic ice shelves and ice islands (p. 149–183). Dordrecht: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-94-024-1101-0_6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Braun, C., Hardy, D. R., Bradley, R. S., & Sahanatien, V. (2004). Surface mass balance of the Ward Hunt Ice Rise and Ice Shelf, Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada. Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, 109(D22110). doi:10.1029/2004JD004560.

  • Brunt, K. M., Okal, E. A., & MacAyeal, D. R. (2011). Antarctic ice-shelf calving triggered by the Honshu (Japan) earthquake and tsunami, March 2011. Journal of Glaciology, 57(205), 785–788.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Compo, G. P., et al. (2011). The Twentieth Century Reanalysis project. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 137, 1–28. doi:10.1002/qj.776.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Copland, L. (2009). Review of recent changes in Canadian Ice Shelves. Report prepared for Canadian Ice Service, Environment Canada. Contract # KM149-08-2113, pp. 21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Copland, L., Mueller, D., & Weir, L. (2007). Rapid loss of the Ayles Ice Shelf, Ellesmere Island, Canada. Geophysical Research Letters, 34, L21501. doi:10.1029/2007GL031809.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Angelis, H., & Skvarca, P. (2003). Glacier surge after ice shelf collapse. Science, 299, 1560–1562.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • England, J., Evans, D. A., & Lakeman, T. (2017). Holocene history of Arctic ice shelves. In L. Copland & D. Mueller (Eds.), Arctic ice shelves and ice islands (p. 185–205). Dordrecht: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-94-024-1101-0_7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, D., Zheng, J., Burgess, D., Zdanowicz, C., Kinnard, C., Sharp, M., & Bourgeois, J. (2012). Recent melt rates of Canadian Arctic ice caps are the highest in four millennia. Global and Planetary Change, 84–85, 3–7. doi:10.1016/j.gloplacha.2011.06.005.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuglem, M., & Jordaan, I. (2017). Risk analysis and hazards of ice islands. In L. Copland & D. Mueller (Eds.), Arctic ice shelves and ice islands (p. 395–415). Dordrecht: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-94-024-1101-0_15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gerdes, R., Karcher, M. J., Kauker, F., & Schauer, U. (2003). Causes and development of repeated Arctic Ocean warming events. Geophysical Research Letters, 30(19). doi:10.1029/2003GL018080.

  • Hamilton, A. (2016). Ice-Ocean interactions in Milne Fiord. PhD Thesis. Department of Civil Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hattersley-Smith, G. (1963). The Ward Hunt Ice Shelf: Recent changes of the ice front. Journal of Glaciology, 4(34), 415–424.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hattersley-Smith, G. (1967). Note on ice shelves off the north coast of Ellesmere Island. The Arctic Circular, XVII, 13–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holdsworth, G. (1971). Calving from Ward-Hunt Ice Shelf, 1961–1962. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 8, 299–305.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Howell, S. E. L., Wohlleben, T., Dabboor, M., Derksen, C., Komarov, A., & Pizzolato, L. (2013). Recent changes in the exchange of sea ice between the Arctic Ocean and the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans, 118(7), 3595–3607.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jeffries, M. O. (1986). Ice island calvings and ice shelf changes, Milne Ice Shelf and Ayles Ice Shelf, Ellesmere Island, N.W.T. Arctic, 39, 15–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jeffries, M. O. (1987). The growth, structure and disintegration of Arctic ice shelves. Polar Record, 23(147), 631–649.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jeffries, M. O., & Serson, H. V. (1983). Recent changes at the front of Ward Hunt Ice Shelf, Ellesmere Island, N.W.T. Arctic, 36, 289–290.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jungblut, A. D., Mueller, D., & Vincent, W. F. (2017). Arctic ice shelf ecosystems. In L. Copland & D. Mueller (Eds.), Arctic ice shelves and ice islands (p. 227–260). Dordrecht: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-94-024-1101-0_9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koenig, L. S., Greenaway, K. R., Dunbar, M., & Hattersley-Smith, G. (1952). Arctic ice islands. Arctic, 5, 67–103.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kwok, R., & Rothrock, D. A. (2009). Decline in Arctic sea ice thickness from submarine and ICESat records: 1958–2008. Geophysical Research Letters, 36, L15501. doi:10.1029/2009GL039035.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lesins, G., Duck, T. J., & Drummond, J. R. (2010). Climate trends at Eureka in the Canadian High Arctic. Atmosphere-Ocean, 48(2), 59–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacAyeal, D. R., Scambos, T. A., Hulbe, C. L., & Fahnestock, M. A. (2003). Catastrophic ice-shelf break-up by an ice-shelf-fragment-capsize mechanism. Journal of Glaciology, 49, 22–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maslanik, J., Stroeve, J., Fowler, C., & Emery, W. (2011). Distribution and trends in Arctic sea ice age through spring 2011. Geophysical Research Letters, 38, L13502. doi:10.1029/2011GL047735.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Montgomery, M. R. (1952). Further notes on ice islands in the Canadian Arctic. Arctic, 5, 183–187.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mortimer, C. (2011). Quantification of changes for the Milne Ice Shelf, Nunavut, Canada, 1950–2009. MSc thesis, Department of Geography, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mortimer, C., Copland, L., & Mueller, D. (2012). Volume and area changes of the Milne Ice Shelf, Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada, since 1950. Journal of Geophysical Research – Earth Surface, 117, F04011. doi:10.1029/2011JF002074.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mueller, D. R., & Vincent, W. F. (2006). Microbial habitat dynamics and ablation control on the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf. Hydrological Processes, 20, 857–876.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mueller, D. R., Vincent, W. F., & Jeffries, M. O. (2003). Break-up of the largest Arctic ice shelf and associated loss of an epishelf lake. Geophysical Research Letters, 30(20), 2031. doi:10.1029/2003GL017931.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mueller, D. R., Vincent, W. F., & Jeffries, M. O. (2006). Environmental gradients, fragmented habitats, and microbiota of a northern ice shelf cryoecosystem, Ellesmere Island, Canada. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 38(4), 593–607.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mueller, D., Copland, L., Hamilton, A., & Stern, D. (2008). International Polar Year scientists and Canadian Rangers visit Arctic ice shelves just before massive loss in 2008. EOS, Transactions, American Geophysical Union, 89(49), 502–503.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mueller, D., Van Hove, P., Antoniades, D., Jeffries, M. O., & Vincent, W. F. (2009). High Arctic lakes as sentinel ecosystems: Cascading regime shifts in climate, ice cover, and mixing. Limnology and Oceanography, 54(6, part 2), 2371–2385.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mueller, D., Copland, L., & Jeffries, M. O. (2017). Changes in Canadian Arctic ice shelf extent since 1906. In L. Copland & D. Mueller (Eds.), Arctic ice shelves and ice islands (p. 109–148). Dordrecht: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-94-024-1101-0_5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nares, G. S. (1878). Narrative of a voyage to the polar sea during 1875-6 in H.M. ships ‘Alert’ and ‘Discovery’ (2 Vols.). London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington.

    Google Scholar 

  • Narod, B. B., Clarke, G. K. C., & Prager, B. T. (1988). Airborne UHF sounding of glaciers and ice shelves, northern Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 25, 95–105. doi:10.1139/e88-010.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peary, R. E. (1907). Nearest the pole. London: Hutchinson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Polyakov, I. V., et al. (2010). Arctic Ocean warming contributes to reduced polar ice cap. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 40, 2743–2756.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pope, S., Copland, L., & Mueller, D. (2012). Loss of multiyear landfast sea ice from Yelverton Bay, Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 44(2), 210–221.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prager, B. T. (1983). Digital signal processing of UHF radio echo sounding data from northern Ellesmere Island. MSc thesis, Department of Geophysics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reeh, N., Thomsen, H. H., Higgins, A. K., & Weidick, A. (2001). Sea ice and the stability of north and northeast Greenland floating glaciers. Annals of Glaciology, 33, 474–480.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richer McCallum, M., Mueller, D. R., & Copland, L. (2014). An assessment of the causes of open water leads and changes in sea ice conditions along northern Ellesmere Island, Canada. International Symposium on Sea Ice in a Changing Environment, Hobart, Tasmania.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rignot, E., Velicogna, I., van den Broeke, M. R., Monaghan, A., & Lenaerts, J. (2011). Acceleration of the contribution of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets to sea level rise. Geophysical Research Letters, 38, L05503. doi:10.1029/2011GL046583.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scambos, T. A., Bohlander, J. A., Shuman, C. A., & Skvarca, P. (2004). Glacier acceleration and thinning after ice shelf collapse in the Larsen B embayment, Antarctica. Geophysical Research Letters, 31(L18402), 1–4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schrama, E. J. O., & Wouters, B. (2011). Revisiting Greenland ice sheet mass loss observed by GRACE. Journal of Geophysical Research – Solid Earth, 116, B02407. doi:10.1029/2009JB006847.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharp, M., Burgess, D. O., Cogley, J. G., Ecclestone, M., Labine, C., & Wolken, G. J. (2011). Extreme melt on Canada’s Arctic ice caps in the 21st century. Geophysical Research Letters, 38, L11501. doi:10.1029/2011GL047381.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simmonds, I. (2015). Comparing and contrasting the behaviour of Arctic and Antarctic sea ice over the 35 year period 1979–2013. Annals of Glaciology, 56(69), 18–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomson, L., & Copland, L. (2017). Multi-decadal reduction in glacier velocities and mechanisms driving deceleration at polythermal White Glacier, Arctic Canada. Journal of Glaciology. https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2017.3.

  • Van Wychen, W., & Copland, L. (2017). Ice island drift mechanisms in the Canadian High Arctic. In L. Copland & D. Mueller (Eds.), Arctic ice shelves and ice islands (p. 287–316). Dordrecht: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-94-024-1101-0_11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Veillette, J., Mueller, D. R., Antoniades, D., & Vincent, W. F. (2008). Arctic epishelf lakes as sentinel ecosystems: Past, present and future. Journal of Geophysical Research – Biogeosciences, 113, G04014.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Veillette, J., Lovejoy, C., Potvin, M., Harding, T., Jungblut, A. D., Antoniades, D., Chénard, C., Suttle, C. A., & Vincent, W. F. (2011). Milne Fiord epishelf lake: A coastal Arctic ecosystem vulnerable to climate change. Écoscience, 18(3), 304–316.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vincent, W. F., Gibson, J. A. E., & Jeffries, M. O. (2001). Ice-shelf collapse, climate change, and habitat loss in the Canadian high Arctic. Polar Record, 37, 133–142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White, A. (2012). Dynamics and historical changes of the Petersen Ice Shelf and epishelf lake, Nunavut, Canada, since 1959. MSc thesis, Department of Geography, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, A., Copland, L., Mueller, D., & VanWychen, W. (2015a). Assessment of historical changes (1959–2012) and the causes of recent break-ups of the Petersen Ice Shelf, Nunavut, Canada. Annals of Glaciology, 56(69), 65–76. doi:10.3189/2015AoG69A687.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White, A., Mueller, D., & Copland, L. (2015b). Reconstructing hydrographic change in Petersen Bay, Ellesmere Island, Canada, inferred from SAR imagery. Remote Sensing of Environment, 165, 1–13. doi:10.1016/j.rse/2015.o4.017.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williamson, S., Sharp, M., Dowdeswell, J., & Benham, T. (2008). Iceberg calving rates from northern Ellesmere Island ice caps, Canadian Arctic, 1999–2003. Journal of Glaciology, 54, 391–400.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wohlleben, T., Tivy, A., Stroeve, J., Meier, W., Fetterer, F., Wang, J., & Assel, R. (2013). Computing and representing sea ice trends: Toward a community consensus. EOS, Transactions,, American Geophysical Union, 94(40), 352. doi:10.1002/2013EO400006.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yu, Y., Stern, H., Fowler, C., Fetterer, F., & Maslanik, J. (2014). Interannual variability of Arctic landfast ice between 1976 and 2007. Journal of Climate, 27, 227–243. doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-13-00178.1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Canada Foundation for Innovation, Ontario Research Fund, University of Ottawa, Polar Continental Shelf Program, ArcticNet, Northern Scientific Training Program, Canadian Space Agency, Alaska Satellite Facility and GLIMS project for support to complete this work. Twentieth Century Reanalysis V2 data kindly provided by the NOAA/OAR/ESRL PSD, Boulder, Colorado. RADARSAT is an official mark of the Canadian Space Agency. We thank the Nunavut Research Institute and communities of Resolute Bay and Grise Fiord for permission to undertake fieldwork on northern Ellesmere Island. We thank Dave Burgess and an anonymous reviewer for comments on the manuscript and Nicole Couture for coordinating the peer review process.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Luke Copland & Adrienne White

  2. Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

    Colleen Mortimer

  3. Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Miriam Richer McCallum & Derek Mueller

Authors
  1. Luke Copland
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Colleen Mortimer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Adrienne White
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Miriam Richer McCallum
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Derek Mueller
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Luke Copland .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Geography, Environment and Geomatics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    Luke Copland

  2. Geography and Environmental Studies, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    Derek Mueller

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Copland, L., Mortimer, C., White, A., Richer McCallum, M., Mueller, D. (2017). Factors Contributing to Recent Arctic Ice Shelf Losses. In: Copland, L., Mueller, D. (eds) Arctic Ice Shelves and Ice Islands. Springer Polar Sciences. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1101-0_10

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation