GPS-observed elastic deformation due to surface mass balance variability in the Southern Antarctic Peninsula

Koulali, A.; Whitehouse, P.L.; Clarke, P.J.; van den Broeke, M.R.; Nield, G.A.; King, M.A.; Bentley, M.J.; Wouters, B.; Wilson, T.

Abstract

In Antarctica, Global Positioning System (GPS) vertical time series exhibit non-linear signals over a wide range of temporal scales. To explain these non-linearities, a number of hypotheses have been proposed, among them the short-term rapid solid Earth response to contemporaneous ice mass change. Here we use GPS vertical time series to reveal the solid Earth response to variations in surface mass balance (SMB) in the Southern Antarctic Peninsula (SAP). At four locations in the SAP we show that interannual variations of SMB anomalies cause measurable elastic deformation. We use regional climate model SMB products to calculate the induced displacement assuming a perfectly elastic Earth. Our results show a reduction of the misfit when fitting a linear trend to GPS time series corrected for the elastic response to SMB variations. Our results imply that, for a better understanding of the glacial isostatic adjustment signal in Antarctica, SMB variability must be considered.

Citation

Koulali, A., Whitehouse, P., Clarke, P., van den Broeke, M., Nield, G., King, M., …Wilson, T. (2022). GPS-observed elastic deformation due to surface mass balance variability in the Southern Antarctic Peninsula. Geophysical Research Letters, 49(4), Article e2021GL097109. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021gl097109

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 7, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Feb 17, 2022
• Publication Date: Feb 28, 2022
• Deposit Date: Mar 22, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 28, 2022
• Journal: Geophysical Research Letters
• Print ISSN: 0094-8276
• Electronic ISSN: 1944-8007
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 49
• Issue: 4
• Article Number: e2021GL097109
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2021gl097109
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1210301