Fast retreat of Zachariæ Isstrøm, northeast Greenland

Shrinking shelf and faster flow Zachariæ Isstrøm, a large glacier in northeast Greenland, began a rapid retreat after detaching from a stabilizing sill in the late 1990s. Mouginot et al. report that between 2002 and 2014, the area covered by the glacier's ice shelf shrank by 95%; since 1999, th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science
Main Authors: Mouginot, J., Rignot, E., Scheuchl, B., Fenty, I., Khazendar, A., Morlighem, M., Buzzi, A., Paden, J.
Other Authors: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Canadian Space Agency, European Space Agency, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V., Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2015
Subjects:
Greenland
glacier
Ice Shelf
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aac7111
https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.aac7111
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Summary:Shrinking shelf and faster flow Zachariæ Isstrøm, a large glacier in northeast Greenland, began a rapid retreat after detaching from a stabilizing sill in the late 1990s. Mouginot et al. report that between 2002 and 2014, the area covered by the glacier's ice shelf shrank by 95%; since 1999, the glacier's flow rate has nearly doubled; and its acceleration increased threefold in the fall of 2012. These dramatic changes appear to be the result of a combination of warmer air and ocean temperatures and the topography of the ocean floor at the head of the glacier. Rising sea levels should continue to destabilize the marine portion of Zachariæ Isstrøm for decades. Science , this issue p. 1357

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