Accessibility navigation


Estimating the extent of Antarctic summer sea ice during the Heroic Age of Exploration

Edinburgh, T. and Day, J. J. (2016) Estimating the extent of Antarctic summer sea ice during the Heroic Age of Exploration. Cryosphere Discussions. ISSN 1994-0440

WarningThere is a more recent version of this item available.

[img] Text - Accepted Version
· Restricted to Repository staff only

559kB

It is advisable to refer to the publisher's version if you intend to cite from this work. See Guidance on citing.

To link to this item DOI: 10.5194/tc-2016-90

Abstract/Summary

In stark contrast to the sharp decline in Arctic sea ice, there has been a steady increase in ice extent around Antarctica during the last three decades, especially in the Weddell and Ross seas. In general, climate models do not to capture this trend and a lack of information about sea ice coverage in the pre-satellite period limits our ability to quantify the sensitivity of sea ice to climate change and robustly validate climate models. However, evidence of the presence and nature of sea ice was often recorded during early Antarctic exploration, though these sources have not previously been explored or exploited until now. We have analysed observations of the summer sea ice edge from the ship logbooks of explorers such as Robert Falcon Scott, Ernest Shackleton and their contemporaries during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration (1897–1917), and in this study we compare these to satellite observations from the period 1989–2014, offering insight into the ice conditions of this period, from direct observations, for the first time. This comparison shows that the summer sea ice edge was between 1.0 and 1.7° further north in the Weddell Sea during this period but that ice conditions were surprisingly comparable to the present day in other sectors.

Item Type:Article
Refereed:Yes
Divisions:Science > School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences > NCAS
Science > School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences > Department of Meteorology
ID Code:65642
Publisher:Copernicus Publications

Available Versions of this Item

University Staff: Request a correction | Centaur Editors: Update this record

Page navigation