Three decades of ice discharge and mass balance assessment throughout the Antarctic Peninsula (<70°S)

Seehaus T, Shahateet KF, Dethinne T (2026)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2026

Journal

Journal of Glaciology International Glaciological Society

DOI: 10.1017/jog.2026.10193

Abstract

This study presents a detailed analysis of ice discharge and mass balance throughout the northern Antarctic Peninsula (Formula presented) from 1992–2020. Using a comprehensive database of 13,784 flux measurements across 333 glaciers, we observe a 11.7% increase in ice discharge from 89.8±5.9 Gt a-1 to 100.3±3.7 Gt a-1, which can be attributed to oceanic and atmospheric factors. By differencing climatic mass balance and ice discharge rates and using independent geodetic mass balance data for calibration, we identified a slight decrease in ice mass loss from -20.8±15.3 Gt a-1 in the period 1992–96 to -19.6±16.0 Gt a-1 in the period 2011–18. Our findings suggest that the increased ice discharge was balanced by higher climatic mass balance rates. The study highlights the significant impact of ice thickness uncertainties on discharge uncertainty estimates of up to >80% and emphasizes the need for accurate thickness data. Moreover, a potential overestimation of the climatic mass balance by current reconstructions is revealed, suggesting the collection of more insitu data for model calibration and validation.

Authors with CRIS profile

Thorsten Seehaus Institut für Geographie

Involved external institutions

University of Grenoble Alpes (UGA) / Université de Grenoble FR France (FR) University of Liège (ULg) / Université de Liège BE Belgium (BE)

How to cite

APA:

Seehaus, T., Shahateet, K.F., & Dethinne, T. (2026). Three decades of ice discharge and mass balance assessment throughout the Antarctic Peninsula (<70°S). Journal of Glaciology. https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2026.10193

MLA:

Seehaus, Thorsten, Kaian Fernandes Shahateet, and Thomas Dethinne. "Three decades of ice discharge and mass balance assessment throughout the Antarctic Peninsula (<70°S)." Journal of Glaciology (2026).

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