Changes in late-Neoglacial perennial snow/ice extent and equilibrium-line altitudes in the Queen Elizabeth Islands, Arctic Canada
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12265388 |
|---|---|
| Authors | G J Wolken (0009-0007-6101-1749, University of Alberta, corresponding author), John H England (University of Alberta), John England (University of Alberta), Arthur S Dyke (Geological Survey of Canada) |
| Year | 2008 |
| Volume | 18 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 615-627 |
| Publication date | 2008-05-19 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Holocene (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0959-6836 • E-ISSN: 1477-0911 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0959683608089215 |
| OpenAlex | W1997241398 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 38 |
Changes in late Neoglaical climate resulted in extensive modification of Arctic terrestrial ice cover. A substantial reduction in terrestrial ice cover in the Queen Elizabeth Islands (QEI) following the `Little Ice Age' (LIA) (~AD 1250—1900), is indicated by widespread, light-toned patches of poorly vegetated terrain, extending back to the modern ice mass. These patches display abrupt outer margins (trimlines), which record the former position and maximum extent of perennial snow/ice and, in many cases, mark the former equilibrium-line altitude (ELA). Trimlines surrounding terrain formerly covered by LIA perennial snow/ice were mapped using multispectral classification approaches applied to high-resolution satellite imagery. ELAs were reconstructed from trimlines associated with former perennial snow/ice produced by long-term snowline lowering. Between the end of the LIA and 1960, the area of terrestrial ice in the QEI decreased by 37% (62 387 km 2 ). Most of this reduction (94%) occurred in the eastern QEI where the majority of the ice exists today; however, a 100% reduction in ice cover occurred on many of the western islands by 1960, an effect largely controlled by the subtle topography of these islands. The reconstructed LIA ELA trend surface was used with the 1960 mapped ELAs to calculate spatial variations in the change in height (Δ h) of the ELA trend surface throughout the QEI during the first half of the twentieth century. ELA Δ h between the LIA and 1960 reveal a high degree of local variability in the mountainous regions, ranging from 0 to >600 m; however a strong regional-scale pattern of change is shown over the QEI as a whole
Arctic · Arctic ice pack · Climatology · Cryosphere · Geography · Ice core · Meteorology · Perennial plant · Physical geography · Sea ice · Snow · Snow cover · Snow line · Climate change and permafrost · Cryospheric studies and observations · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Ecology · Geology · Oceanography
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The Mass Balance of Circum-Arctic Glaciers and Recent Climate Change
Arctic Environmental Change of the Last Four Centuries
The NCEP/NCAR 40-Year Reanalysis Project
Re-evaluating the Relevance of Vegetation Trimlines in the Canadian Arctic as an Indicator of Little Ice Age Paleoenvironments
On glacial inception and orography
Changes in late-Neoglacial climate inferred from former equilibrium-line altitudes in the Queen Elizabeth Islands, Arctic Canada
Geomorphological Evidence of Holocene Climatic Change from Northwest Ellesmere Island, Canadian High Arctic
Indications of neoglacierization on Somerset Island, District of Franklin
| Citations per year | 0.17 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2008 - 2015 (8) |
| Highly cited | No |