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Positive Mass Balance of the Ross Ice Streams, West Antarctica
Ian Joughin,1*Slawek Tulaczyk2*
We have used ice-flow velocity measurements from
synthetic aperture radar to reassess the mass balance of the Ross Ice
Streams,West Antarctica. We find strong evidence for ice-sheet growth(+26.8 gigatons per year), in contrast to earlier estimates indicatinga mass deficit (20.9 gigatons per year). Average thickening isequal
to ~25% of the accumulation rate, with most of this growthoccurring
on Ice Stream C. Whillans Ice Stream, which was thoughtto have a
significantly negative mass balance, is close to balance,reflecting
its continuing slowdown. The overall positive massbalance may signal
an end to the Holocene retreat of these icestreams.
1 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California
Institute of Technology, Mailstop 300-235, 4800 Oak Grove Drive,
Pasadena, CA 91109, USA.
2 Department of Earth
Sciences, A208 Earth and Marine Sciences Building, University of
California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA.
*
E-mail: ian{at}radar-sci.jpl.nasa.gov,
tulaczyk{at}es.ucsc.edu
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[DOI: 10.1126/science.1068919] |Summary »|Full Text »|PDF »
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20.9 gigatons per year). Average thickening is equal
to ~25% of the accumulation rate, with most of this growth occurring
on Ice Stream C. Whillans Ice Stream, which was thought to have a
significantly negative mass balance, is close to balance, reflecting
its continuing slowdown. The overall positive mass balance may signal
an end to the Holocene retreat of these ice streams.
