Cycles of snow algal blooms and snowmelt intensify Antarctic ice shelf melting

Cycles of snow algal blooms and snowmelt intensify Antarctic ice shelf melting | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Cycles of snow algal blooms and snowmelt intensify Antarctic ice shelf melting Dong Liang, Lu Zhang, Qing Cheng, Qi Zhu, Yiming Liu, Barjeece Bashir, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5271907/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Antarctic ice shelves play a pivotal role in global sea-level regulation, yet their sensitivity to temperature variations, freeze-thaw cycles, and biotic factors such as snow algae remains under-explored. This study addresses the critical question: how do snow algae influence the melting dynamics of Antarctic ice shelves under changing climatic conditions? To answer this question, the study applies time-lag adjusted Pearson correlation and Granger causality tests to high-resolution Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 time-series data in Google Earth Engine. The findings demonstrate that algae biomass significantly influences subsequent melting, underscoring snow algae’s pivotal role in accelerating the melting of Antarctic ice shelves. This research emphasizes the need to integrate biotic factors in models of polar ice dynamics and climate change projections. The study also provides a workflow for snow algae and snowmelt analysis at high resolution over large areas, contributing to a deeper understanding of snowmelt and global sea-level rise. Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences/Environmental impact Earth and environmental sciences/Climate sciences/Cryospheric science Physical sciences/Mathematics and computing/Statistics snowmelt snow algae Antarctic ice shelf Big Earth Data SAR MSI Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5271907","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":368093161,"identity":"cc94db43-ca6a-4036-963a-f7d59ceb122c","order_by":0,"name":"Dong Liang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Dong","middleName":"","lastName":"Liang","suffix":""},{"id":368093163,"identity":"4235c1e7-6b1a-4362-9700-dc08af637ad8","order_by":1,"name":"Lu 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This study addresses the critical question: how do snow algae influence the melting dynamics of Antarctic ice shelves under changing climatic conditions? To answer this question, the study applies time-lag adjusted Pearson correlation and Granger causality tests to high-resolution Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 time-series data in Google Earth Engine. The findings demonstrate that algae biomass significantly influences subsequent melting, underscoring snow algae\u0026rsquo;s pivotal role in accelerating the melting of Antarctic ice shelves. This research emphasizes the need to integrate biotic factors in models of polar ice dynamics and climate change projections. 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