Abstract
This study explores the ice flow acceleration (21.1%) of Pedersenbreen during 2016–2017 after the extremely warm winter throughout the whole Arctic in 2015/2016 using in situ data and quantitatively analyses the factors contributing to this acceleration. Several data sets, including 2008–2018 air temperature data from Ny-Ålesund, ten-year in situ GPS measurements and Elmer/Ice ice flow modelling under different ice temperature scenarios, suggest that the following factors contributed to the ice flow acceleration: the softened glacier ice caused by an increase in the air temperature (1.5°C) contributed 2.7%–30.5%, while basal lubrication contributed 69.5%–97.3%. The enhanced basal sliding was mostly due to the increased surface meltwater penetrating to the bedrock under the rising air temperature conditions; consequently, the glacier ice flow acceleration was caused mainly by an increase in subglacial water. For Pedersenbreen, there was an approximately one-year time lag between the change in air temperature and the change in glacier ice flow velocity.
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Acknowledgements
The field data in this study were acquired by researchers from the Chinese Arctic Yellow River Station. We thank the Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration of the State Oceanic Administration, Ministry of Natural Resources for sponsoring the field expeditions around the Chinese Arctic Yellow River Station. We are grateful to the team members who supported our in situ observations.
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Foundation item: The National Key R&D Program of China under contract No. 2016YFC1402701; the National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos 41941010, 41531069 and 41476162.
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Wang, Z., Yan, B., Ai, S. et al. Quantitative analysis of Arctic ice flow acceleration with increasing temperature. Acta Oceanol. Sin. 40, 22–32 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-021-1718-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-021-1718-1