TCD The Cryosphere Discussions TCD 1994-0440 Copernicus GmbH Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/tcd-6-5169-2012 Global glacier volumes and sea level – effects of ice below the surface of the ocean and of new local lakes on land Haeberli W. 1 Linsbauer A. 1 Geography Department, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland 13 12 2012 6 6 5169 5179 This is an open-access article ditributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. This article is available from http://www.the-cryosphere-discuss.net/6/5169/2012/tcd-6-5169-2012.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from http://www.the-cryosphere-discuss.net/6/5169/2012/tcd-6-5169-2012.pdf

The potential contribution of glaciers and ice caps to sea level rise is usually calculated by comparing the estimated total ice volume with the surface area of the ocean. Part of this total ice volume, however, does not contribute to sea-level rise, because it is below the surface of the ocean or below the levels of future lakes on land. The present communication points to this so far overlooked phenomenon and provides a first order-of-magnitude estimate. It is shown that the effect is small (most likely 1 to 5 cm sea-level equivalent) but systematic, could primarily affect earlier stages of global glacier vanishing and should therefore be adequately considered. Now-available techniques of slope-related high-resolution glacier-bed modelling have the potential to provide more detailed assessments in the future.

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