The East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) is one of two large ice sheets in Antarctica, and the largest on the entire planet. The EAIS lies between 45 o West and 168 o East longitudinally.
The EAIS is considerably larger in area and mass than the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). It is separated from the WAIS by the Transantarctic Mountains. The EAIS rests upon a large land mass, contrary to that of the WAIS, which rests mainly on bedrock below sea level.[citation needed] The EAIS is also home to the thickest point on the Antarctic continent, at 15,700 ft (4,800 m). Most well known, however, is that the EAIS is home to the South Pole (commonly mistaken for the Magnetic South Pole.)
The East Antarctica Ranges are a group of mountain ranges situated on the EAIS. The East Antarctic two-thousanders are the 29 known peaks within these ranges whose summits reach or exceed 2000 meters above sea level.
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Ice mass changes
Current international focus on global warming issues has drawn attention to the melting of the polar ice caps. GRACE-based studies data indicate that the EAIS is losing mass at a rate of 57 billion tonnes per year[1] and that the total Antarctic ice sheet (including WAIS, and EAIS coastal areas) is losing mass at a rate of 152 cubic kilometers (ca 139 billion tonnes) per year.[2]
Temperature changes
Cooling in East Antarctica during the decades of the 1980s and 1990s partially offset warming of the West Antarctic ice sheet which has warmed by more than 0.1°C/decade in the last 50 years. The continent-wide average surface temperature trend of Antarctica is positive and significant at >0.05°C/decade since 1957.[3]
Territorial claims
Many countries hold a claim on portions of Antarctica. Within EAIS, the United Kingdom, France, Norway, Australia, Chile and Argentina all claim a portion (sometimes overlapping) as their own territory.
See also
Scientific opinion on climate change
References
- ^ Chen, J. L.; Wilson, C. R.; Blankenship, D.; Tapley, B. D. (2009). "Accelerated Antarctic ice loss from satellite gravity measurements". Nature Geoscience 2: 859. doi:.
- ^ Velicogna, Isabella; Wahr, John & Scott, Jim (2006-03-02), Antarctic ice sheet losing mass, says University of Colorado study, University of Colorado at Boulder, <http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-03/uoca-ais022806.php>. Retrieved on 2007-04-21
- ^ Steig E.J., Schneider D.P., Rutherford S.D., Mann M.E., Comiso J.C., Schindell D.T. (2009). "Warming of the Antarctic ice-sheet surface since the 1957 International Geophysical Year". Nature 457: 459–462. doi:.
External links
E. J. Steig summary of paper on warming in West Antarctica referenced herein
Nature journal cover image depicting warming in Antarctica
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