HR: 09:45h
AN: PP11A-08    [Abstracts]
TI: Revisited Inventory of Glaciers on Axel Heiberg Island, Nunavut
AU: * Thomson, L
EM: lthoms2@uwo.ca
AF: University of Western Ontario, 1151 Richmond Street, London, ON N6A 5B7, Canada
AU: Osinski, G
EM: gosinski@uwo.ca
AF: University of Western Ontario, 1151 Richmond Street, London, ON N6A 5B7, Canada
AB: As documented in the IPCC's Climate Change 2007 report, the high latitude regions of the Northern Hemisphere are experiencing the highest rates of warming. Given that 35% of the global glacial ice exists within the Arctic Archipelago, this region provides an excellent laboratory for monitoring the anticipated degree of glacial recession [1]. Evidence of arctic warming through negative mass balance trends has been detected in several studies already [e.g., 2]. Here, we show the importance and value of historical records in the task of monitoring glacial retreat. A highly detailed inventory developed by S. Ommanney in 1969 [3], has been revisited and transformed into digital format for the purposes of integration with modern inventories. The Ommanney inventory covers the entirety of Axel Heiberg Island , NU, and includes details often lacking in present day inventories, including orientations (accumulation and ablation zones), elevations (highest, lowest, elevation of the snowline, and the mean elevations of both the accumulation and ablation areas), length (of the ablation area, exposed ice, and of the total glacier including debris cover), area (of the ablation area, exposed ice, and of the total glacier), accumulation area ratio (AAR), depth, volume, and a six digit code which gives qualitative details on glacier attributes. This report is one of the most thorough and comprehensive glacier inventory report ever published in Canada. More recent inventories used for comparison include the glacier extents created by the National Topographic System based on photography from 1980-1987, as well as extents developed by Dr. Luke Copland for the Global Land Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS) database using 1999-2000 satellite imagery. Our preliminary results show that approximately 90% of ice bodies under 0.2kmē on Axel Heiberg Island have disappeared entirely in the 40 year period of interest. The issue of glacier definition will be discussed as a possible cause of these drastic changes in the status of small, remnant glaciers. Recession trends will also be discussed with respect to glacier characteristics and regional distribution. [1] Barry, R. G., Progress in Physical Geography, 2006. 30(3): p. 285-306; [2] Dowdeswell, J. A., et al., Quaternary Research, 1997. 40: p. 1-14; [3] Ommanney, C. S. L., McGill Subarctic Research Paper, 1969. 40: p. 5-67.
DE: 0720 Glaciers
DE: 0770 Properties
DE: 0772 Distribution
SC: Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology [PP]
MN: 2009 Joint Assembly