Virtual Posters

The cryosphere includes the landsurface permanently covered by snow and ice, such as glaciers. Environmental changes can result in broad global consequences, and studies of glaciers from polar regions are strategic as sensitive areas to climate changes. We analyzed the intra-seasonal variability of air temperature and correlated with the changing rates of Polar Club Glacier retreat, at Potter Peninsula, King George Island. We used a series of nine scenes of Landsat satellite images and atmospheric temperature data from 1986 to 2009. The results showed a consistent retreat over the past 22 years of the Polar Club Glacier front, resulting in an increase of 120.47 ha of ice-free area in Potter Peninsula alone. We further revealed that during the period of 24 years studied there was increase in temperature of 1.64°C in the autumn temperatures, 1.58°C in spring time temperatures, 0.7°C in winter and 0.47°C in summer. The results for the melting of the Polar Club glacier are not matched with previous results from other studies already developed in similar dome glaciers on King George Island. The changes observed for the Polar Club glacier between 1986 and 2008 have close links with the various components of the landscape, such as thickness of ice cover and basal water temperature. The series of atmospheric temperatures is not sufficient to explain the variation observed for the Polar Club glacier front on Potter peninsula.