Bliss and others 2013.

Andrew Bliss, Regine Hock, J. Graham Cogley | Source

Abstract

Although the glaciers in the Antarctic periphery make up a large fraction of all mountain glaciers and ice caps on Earth, a detailed glacier inventory of the region is lacking. We compile such an inventory, recording areas, area–altitude distributions, terminus characteristics and volume estimates.Glaciers on the mainland are excluded. The inventory is derived from the Antarctic Digital Database and some manual digitization. We additionally rely on satellite imagery, digital elevation models and a flow shed algorithm to classify ice bodies. We find 1133 ice caps and 1619 mountain glaciers covering a total of 132867 +- 6643km2. Estimated total volume corresponds to 0.121 +- 0.010m sea-level equivalent. Of the total glacier area, 99% drains either into ice shelves (63%) or into the ocean (36%). The inventory will provide a database for glacier mass-balance assessments, modelling and projections, and help to reduce the uncertainties in previous studies.

Related Sharply increased mass loss from glaciers and ice caps in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (2011)