Twentieth century behaviour of the ice fronts in Antarctica: environmental change evidence

A comparison of various documents, dated several years apart, has allowed the surficial ice discharge, the ice front fluctuation and the iceberg calving flux of Victoria Land coast (Antarctica) during this century to be estimated. The Hells Gate and McMurdo Sound ice shelves and the floating glaciers of Cape Adare have undergone a significant retreat since the beginning of the 20th century. The different behaviour of these floating glaciers with respect to others has been presumed to be due to increased energy available for meltwater production and to increased melting at the ice-ocean interface related to Circumpolar Deep Water. A first estimate of the mass balance of glaciers that fringe the Victoria Land Coast shows a significantly positive value, despite all the uncertainties of balance measurements.