Ice thickness over the southern limit of the Amery Ice Shelf, East Antarctica, and reassessment of the mass balance of the central portion of the Lambert Glacier–Amery Ice Shelf system

We combine radio-echo sounding ice thickness data from the BEDMAP Project database and the PCMEGA (Prince Charles Mountains Expedition of Germany and Australia) dataset to generate a new ice thickness grid for the southern limit region of the Amery Ice Shelf, East Antarctica. We then reassess the mass balance of the central portion of the Lambert–Amery system, incorporating flow information derived from synthetic aperture radar interferometry (InSAR) and a modeled surface mass-balance dataset based on regional atmospheric modeling. Our analysis reveals that Mellor and Fisher Glaciers are approximately in balance to the level of our measurement uncertainty, while Lambert Glacier has a positive imbalance of 4.2 ± 2.3 Gt a –1 . The mass budget for the whole Lambert Glacier basin is approximately in balance, and the average basal melt rate in the downstream section of the ice shelf is 5.1 ± 3.0 m a –1 . Our results differ substantially from other recent estimates using hydrostatically derived ice thickness data.