Continued rapid glacier recession following the 1995 collapse of the Prince Gustav Ice Shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula (Invited)

We use optical satellite imagery (ASTER and Landsat) to document changes in the Prince Gustav Ice Shelf (PGIS) and its tributary glaciers before and after its 1995 collapse. Interpretation of a pre-collapse Landsat 4-5 TM image acquired in February 1988 shows that the ice shelf was fed primarily by Sjogren Glacier from the Antarctic Peninsula and by Rhoss Glacier from James Ross Island (JRI). In 1988, the PGIS contained numerous structural discontinuities (rifts and crevasses), which collectively indicate that ice-shelf break-up had commenced at least seven years before collapse. Meltwater ponds and streams were also common across its surface. After the ice shelf collapsed, Rhoss Glacier became a tidewater glacier and has since experienced rapid and continued recession. Between January 2001 and December 2006 (six to eleven years after the collapse of the PGIS), the front of Rhoss Glacier receded a total of 13.6 km. We conclude that where tributary glaciers become tidewater glaciers they react to ice-shelf removal by rapid and continued recession and that the response time of glaciers on the Antarctic Peninsula to ice-shelf removal is measured on annual to decadal timescales. This rapid recession, coupled with previously documented tributary glacier thinning and acceleration, indicates that Antarctic Peninsula glaciers are extremely sensitive to ice-shelf collapse.