Growth of Greenland Ice Sheet: Interpretation
An observed 0.23 m/year thickening of the Greenland ice sheet indicates a 25% to 45% excess ice accumulation over the amount required to balance the outward ice flow. The implied global sea-level depletion is 0.2 to 0.4 mm/year, depending on whether the thickening is only recent (5 to 10 years) or l...
| Published in: | Science |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
1989
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1126/science.246.4937.1589 https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.246.4937.1589 |
| Summary: | An observed 0.23 m/year thickening of the Greenland ice sheet indicates a 25% to 45% excess ice accumulation over the amount required to balance the outward ice flow. The implied global sea-level depletion is 0.2 to 0.4 mm/year, depending on whether the thickening is only recent (5 to 10 years) or longer term (< 100 years). If there is a similar imbalance in the northern 60% of the ice-sheet area, the depletion is 0.35 to 0.7 mm/year. Increasing ice thickness suggests that the precipitation is higher than the long-term average; higher precipitation may be a characteristic of warmer climates in polar regions. |
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