The growth, structure and disintegration of Arctic ice shelves
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9220391 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Martin O Jeffries (University of Alaska Fairbanks, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1987 |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue | 147 |
| Pages | 631-649 |
| Publication date | 1987-09-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Polar Record (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0032-2474 • E-ISSN: 1475-3057 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0032247400008342 |
| OpenAlex | W2001300951 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
| References cited | 32 |
The north coast of Ellesmere Island is the location of the only known ice shelves in the northern hemisphere. Present Arctic ice shelves are as much as 40–50 m thick and occupy sheltered fiords and embayments. These thick floating ice masses are remnants of the once-extensive Ellesmere Ice Shelf that has disintegrated since 1876–1906, when Aldrich and Peary respectively travelled along the coast. Reasons for the disintegration are not clear, but it has created many ice islands that have been known to circulate in the Arctic Ocean for 35 years or more. Both ice islands and ice shelves are readily distinguished from their surroundings by an undulating surface topography of parallel ridges and troughs up to 300 m apart. The undulations probably owe their origin to the effects of wind and meltwater. Since 1952 these large ice masses have been the subject of considerable research. Ice shelf growth began about 4000 BP, when glaciers flowed off the land and remained afloat in fiords and inlets, and sea ice grew thick and remained fast to the coast. The glacier and sea ice acted as platforms for further thickening both by surface accumulation of snow and ice and by undersurface accretion of fresh, brackish and saline ice. Although much has been learned about the growth, structure and behaviour of arctic ice shelves, questions still remain concerning ice island calving mechanisms, bottom freezing, thick sea ice growth and origins of the ridges and troughs
Antarctic sea ice · Arctic · Arctic ice pack · Cryosphere · Drift ice · Fast ice · Fjord · Geomorphology · Glacier · Ice divide · Ice shelf · Ice stream · Iceberg · Meltwater · Pancake ice · Sea ice · Arctic and Antarctic ice dynamics · Climate change and permafrost · Cryospheric studies and observations · Geology · Oceanography
Geomorphological Evidence of Holocene Climatic Change from Northwest Ellesmere Island, Canadian High Arctic
Climate change and ice hazards in the Beaufort Sea
Ice-shelf collapse, climate change, and habitat loss in the Canadian high Arctic
The source and calving of ice island Arlis-II
First Landsat multi-spectral scanner images of the Canadian Arctic north of 80°N
North Greenland ice islands
Ice Shelves of Northern Ellesmere Island, NWT
Recent Changes at the Front of Ward Hunt Ice Shelf, Ellesmere Island, N.W.T
Ice Island Calvings and Ice Shelf Changes, Milne Ice Shelf and Ayles Ice Shelf, Ellesmere Island, N.W.T
Marvin's Ice Shelf Journey, 1906
Holocene History of a Portion of Northernmost Ellesmere Island
Structural and Stratigraphic Studies of the Northern Ellesmere Ice Shelf
The Rolls on the Ellesmere Ice Shelf
Arctic Ice Islands
The Ward Hunt Ice Shelf, Spring 1982
Arctic Ice Island and Ice Shelf Studies
Arctic Ice Island and Ice Shelf Studies
Northern Ellesmere Island, 1953 And 1954
Ice Islands, 1967
Geophysical Studies Along Northern Ellesmere Island
The Ellesmere Ice Shelf and the Ice Islands1
Northern Ellesmere Island
| Citations per year | 0.18 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1988 - 2014 (27) |
| Highly cited | No |