Recent Changes in Ice Dynamics of Frost and Holmes Glaciers, Porpoise Bay, Wilkes Land, East Antarctica

The East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) is often seen as less vulnerable to climate change than the West Antarctic or Greenland Ice Sheets, but studies show that some regions of the EAIS have been losing mass over recent decades. In particular, Wilkes Land, which overlies the Aurora Subglacial Basin, is thought to have been losing mass at accelerating rates over the past two decades. Several large outlet glaciers drain this region, but very few have been studied in detail. This paper presents new data on the recent ice dynamics of three outlet glaciers in Porpoise Bay, Wilkes Land. This includes Frost and Holmes glaciers, which may have generated almost a quarter of the EAIS’s sea-level contribution over the past four decades. We use optical satellite imagery and a range of previously published datasets to measure changes in the glacier terminus, grounding line position, ice surface velocity and ice surface elevation over the last three decades. These data are used to assess the likelihood of any dynamic imbalance and explore the potential drivers of change to help inform future projections of this critically important region.