October 24, 2022
Publications
>
Article

The unquantified mass loss of Northern Hemisphere marine-terminating glaciers from 2000–2020

Publicated to: Nature Communications. 13 (1): 5835- - 2022-10-11 13(1), DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-33231-x

Authors:

Kochtitzky, W; Copland, L; Van Wychen, W; Hugonnet, R; Hock, R; Dowdeswell, JA; Benham, T; Strozzi, T; Glazovsky, A; Lavrentiev, I; Rounce, DR; Millan, R; Cook, A; Dalton, A; Jiskoot, H; Cooley, J; Jania, J; Navarro, F
[+]

Affiliations

Carnegie Mellon Univ, Dept Civil & Environm Engn, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 USA - Author
Carnegie Mellon University - Author
CNES Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales - Author
CNES, Inst Geosci Environm, Grenoble, France - Author
ETH Zürich , Laboratoire d'Etudes en Géophysique et Océanographie Spatiales , Eidgenössische Forschungsanstalt für Wald, Schnee und Landschaft WSL - Author
Gamma Remote Sensing - Author
Gamma Remote Sensing, Gumlingen, BE, Switzerland - Author
Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences - Author
Russian Acad Sci, Inst Geog, Moscow, Russia - Author
Scott Polar Research Institute - Author
Swiss Fed Inst Forest Snow & LandscapeRes WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland - Author
Swiss Fed Inst Technol, Lab Hydraul Hydrol & Glaciol VAW, Zurich, Switzerland - Author
Univ Alaska Fairbanks, Inst Geophys, Fairbanks, AK 99775 USA - Author
Univ Cambridge, Scott Polar Res Inst, Cambridge, England - Author
Univ Lethbridge, Dept Geog & Environm, Lethbridge, AB, Canada - Author
Univ Oslo, Dept Geosci, Oslo, Norway - Author
Univ Ottawa, Dept Geog Environm & Geomat, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada - Author
Univ Politecn Madrid, Madrid, Spain - Author
Univ Silesia, Katowice, Poland - Author
Univ Toulouse, CNES, LEGOS, CNRS,IRD,UPS, Toulouse, France - Author
Univ Waterloo, Dept Geog & Environm Management, Waterloo, ON, Canada - Author
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid - Author
University of Alaska Fairbanks , Universitetet i Oslo - Author
University of Lethbridge - Author
University of Ottawa - Author
University of Ottawa , University of Waterloo - Author
Uniwersytet Slaski w Katowicach - Author
See more

Abstract

In the Northern Hemisphere, ~1500 glaciers, accounting for 28% of glacierized area outside the Greenland Ice Sheet, terminate in the ocean. Glacier mass loss at their ice-ocean interface, known as frontal ablation, has not yet been comprehensively quantified. Here, we estimate decadal frontal ablation from measurements of ice discharge and terminus position change from 2000 to 2020. We bias-correct and cross-validate estimates and uncertainties using independent sources. Frontal ablation of marine-terminating glaciers contributed an average of 44.47 ± 6.23 Gt a−1 of ice to the ocean from 2000 to 2010, and 51.98 ± 4.62 Gt a−1 from 2010 to 2020. Ice discharge from 2000 to 2020 was equivalent to 2.10 ± 0.22 mm of sea-level rise and comprised approximately 79% of frontal ablation, with the remainder from terminus retreat. Near-coastal areas most impacted include Austfonna, Svalbard, and central Severnaya Zemlya, the Russian Arctic, and a few Alaskan fjords.
[+]

Keywords

balancecomplete inventorydynamic dischargefrontal ablationice dischargeinterannual variabilitysevernaya zemlyasvalbardvelocitiesArctic regionsGreenlandIce coverRussiaSurge-type glaciersSvalbard

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Nature Communications due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2022, it was in position 6/73, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Multidisciplinary Sciences. Notably, the journal is positioned above the 90th percentile.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations provided by WoS (ESI, Clarivate), it yields a value for the citation normalization relative to the expected citation rate of: 3.93. This indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 13, 2025)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Weighted Average of Normalized Impact by the Scopus agency: 3.44 (source consulted: FECYT Mar 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2026-04-27, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 46
  • Scopus: 45
  • Europe PMC: 6
  • Google Scholar: 38
[+]

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-04-27:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 52.

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 76.
  • The number of mentions on the social network Facebook: 1 (Altmetric).
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 55 (Altmetric).
  • The number of mentions in news outlets: 4 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
  • Assignment of a Handle/URN as an identifier within the deposit in the Institutional Repository: https://oa.upm.es/87006/

As a result of the publication of the work in the institutional repository, statistical usage data has been obtained that reflects its impact. In terms of dissemination, we can state that, as of

  • Views: 159
  • Downloads: 42
[+]

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Canada; France; Norway; Poland; Russia; Switzerland; United Kingdom; United States of America.

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: Last Author (NAVARRO VALERO, FRANCISCO JOSE).

[+]