Meighen Ice Cap: changes in geometry, mass, and climatic response since 1959

Remote sensing (satellite and airborne) in situ monitoring measurements indicate that the Meighen Ice Cap has thinned by 10 ± 3 m between 1960 2016, resulting areal shrinkage 32 km 2 (38%) total mass loss of 0.71 0.2 gigatonnes. Retreat ice margin along North basin up to 2.5 accounted for 50% area over 56-year period this study. A strong inverse relationship atmospheric summer temperature anomalies, balance (r = −0.74) indicates accelerated rates from are largely driven regional scale warming. Increases anomalies 1.9 °C 1960–2004 2005–2016 coincided with a five-fold increase surface melt across Cap. Since 1990s, Equilibrium Line Altitude been positioned above summit Cap, accumulation zone persisted first three decades early 2000s, cap more than 4 m, which is unprecedented record. Response time calculations based on 2006–2016 average data existence ∼3500 years, will completely disappear ∼175 years.