Multi-year monitoring of rift propagation on the Amery Ice Shelf, East Antarctica

Abstract

We use satellite imagery from four sensors (Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR), Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM), and RADARSAT and ERS Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) to monitor the lengths of two rifts on the Amery Ice Shelf, from 1996 to 2004. We find that the rifts have each been propagating at a steady annual rate for the past 5 years. Superimposed on this steady rate is a seasonal signal, where propagation rates are significantly higher in the summer period (i.e., September–April) than in the winter period (i.e., April–September). Possible causes of this summer-winter effect are changing properties of the ice mélange, which fills the rifts, and seasonal changes in ocean circulation beneath the ice shelf