Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Site Tools

  • AAAS
  • Subscribe
  • Feedback

Site Search

Search Advanced

Science 22 April 2005:
Vol. 308. no. 5721, pp. 541 - 544
DOI: 10.1126/science.1104235
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

Retreating Glacier Fronts on the Antarctic Peninsula over the Past Half-Century

A. J. Cook,1* A. J. Fox,1 D. G. Vaughan,1 J. G. Ferrigno2

The continued retreat of ice shelves on the Antarctic Peninsula has been widely attributed to recent atmospheric warming, but there is little published work describing changes in glacier margin positions. We present trends in 244 marine glacier fronts on the peninsula and associated islands over the past 61 years. Of these glaciers, 87% have retreated and a clear boundary between mean advance and retreat has migrated progressively southward. The pattern is broadly compatible with retreat driven by atmospheric warming, but the rapidity of the migration suggests that this may not be the sole driver of glacier retreat in this region.

1 British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK.
2 U.S. Geological Survey, 926A National Center, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston, VA 20192–0002, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: acook{at}bas.ac.uk

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Recent Changes in Phytoplankton Communities Associated with Rapid Regional Climate Change Along the Western Antarctic Peninsula.
M. Montes-Hugo, S. C. Doney, H. W. Ducklow, W. Fraser, D. Martinson, S. E. Stammerjohn, and O. Schofield (2009)
Science 323, 1470-1473
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Mechanisms of Holocene palaeoenvironmental change in the Antarctic Peninsula region.
M.J. Bentley, D.A. Hodgson, J.A. Smith, C.O Cofaigh, E.W. Domack, R.D. Larter, S.J. Roberts, S. Brachfeld, A. Leventer, C. Hjort, et al. (2009)
The Holocene 19, 51-69
   Abstract »    PDF »
Ice Scour Disturbance in Antarctic Waters.
D. A. Smale, K. M. Brown, D. K. A. Barnes, K. P. P. Fraser, and A. Clarke (2008)
Science 321, 371
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Late Cenozoic glacier-volcano interaction on James Ross Island and adjacent areas, Antarctic Peninsula region.
M. J. Hambrey, J. L. Smellie, A. E. Nelson, and J. S. Johnson (2008)
Geological Society of America Bulletin 120, 709-731
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Late-Holocene advance of the Collins Ice Cap, King George Island, South Shetland Islands.
B. L. Hall (2007)
The Holocene 17, 1253-1258
   Abstract »    PDF »
Free-Drifting Icebergs: Hot Spots of Chemical and Biological Enrichment in the Weddell Sea.
K. L. Smith Jr., B. H. Robison, J. J. Helly, R. S. Kaufmann, H. A. Ruhl, T. J. Shaw, B. S. Twining, and M. Vernet (2007)
Science 317, 478-482
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Introduction. Antarctic ecology from genes to ecosystems: the impact of climate change and the importance of scale.
A. Clarke, N. M Johnston, E. J Murphy, and A. D Rogers (2007)
Phil Trans R Soc B 362, 5-9
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Marine pelagic ecosystems: the West Antarctic Peninsula.
H. W Ducklow, K. Baker, D. G Martinson, L. B Quetin, R. M Ross, R. C Smith, S. E Stammerjohn, M. Vernet, and W. Fraser (2007)
Phil Trans R Soc B 362, 67-94
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Climate change and the marine ecosystem of the western Antarctic Peninsula.
A. Clarke, E. J Murphy, M. P Meredith, J. C King, L. S Peck, D. K.A Barnes, and R. C Smith (2007)
Phil Trans R Soc B 362, 149-166
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Changes in ice dynamics and mass balance of the Antarctic ice sheet.
E. Rignot (2006)
Phil Trans R Soc A 364, 1637-1655
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Determining the contribution of Antarctica to sea-level rise using data assimilation methods.
R. J Arthern and R. C.A Hindmarsh (2006)
Phil Trans R Soc A 364, 1841-1865
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Paleoclimatic evidence for future ice-sheet instability and rapid sea-level rise..
J. T. Overpeck, B. L. Otto-Bliesner, G. H. Miller, D. R. Muhs, R. B. Alley, and J. T. Kiehl (2006)
Science 311, 1747-1750
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Sea levels: abrupt events and mechanisms of change.
R. Edwards (2005)
Progress in Physical Geography 29, 599-608
   PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)