Mass balance of Devon Ice Cap, Canadian Arctic

Sheperd, Andrew; Du, Zhijun; Benham, Toby J.; Dowdeswell, Julian A.; Morris, Elizabeth M.. 2007 Mass balance of Devon Ice Cap, Canadian Arctic. Annals of Glaciology, 46. 249-254.

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Abstract/Summary

Interferometric synthetic aperture radar data show that Devon Ice Cap (DIC), northern Canada, is drained through a network of 11 glacier systems. More than half of all ice discharge is through broad flows that converge to the southeast of the ice cap, and these are grounded well below sea level at their termini. A calculation of the ice-cap mass budget reveals that the northwestern sector of DIC is gaining mass and that all other sectors are losing mass. We estimate that a 12 489 km(2) section of the main ice cap receives 3.46 +/- 0.65 Gt of snowfall each year, and loses 3.11 +/- 0.21 Gt of water through runoff, and 1.43 +/- 0.03 Gt of ice through glacier discharge. Altogether, the net mass balance of DIC is -1.08 +/- 0.67 Gt a(-1). This loss corresponds to a 0.003 mm a(-1) contribution to global sea levels, and is about half the magnitude of earlier estimates.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Programmes:	BAS Programmes > Other Special Projects
ISSN:	0260-3055
NORA Subject Terms:	Glaciology Hydrology
Date made live:	21 Oct 2011 13:19 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/11952

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Programmes:

BAS Programmes > Other Special Projects

ISSN:

0260-3055

NORA Subject Terms:

Glaciology
Hydrology

Date made live:

21 Oct 2011 13:19 +0 (UTC)

URI:

https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/11952