Multiple melt plumes observed at the Breiðamerkurjökull ice face in the upper waters of Jökulsárlón lagoon, Iceland
ABSTRACT Breiðamerkurjökull flows from the Vatnajökull ice cap and calves into the Jökulsárlón proglacial lagoon. The lagoon is connected to the North Atlantic Ocean through a 6 m deep narrow channel. Four hydrographic surveys in spring 2012, and a 2011 4-month long temperature and salinity time ser...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/aog.2017.10 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0260305517000106 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/aog.2017.10 2024-09-15T17:39:51+00:00 Multiple melt plumes observed at the Breiðamerkurjökull ice face in the upper waters of Jökulsárlón lagoon, Iceland Brandon, Mark Hodgkins, Richard Björnsson, Helgi Ólafsson, Jón 2017 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/aog.2017.10 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0260305517000106 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) Annals of Glaciology volume 58, issue 74, page 131-143 ISSN 0260-3055 1727-5644 journal-article 2017 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2017.10 2024-07-17T04:02:26Z ABSTRACT Breiðamerkurjökull flows from the Vatnajökull ice cap and calves into the Jökulsárlón proglacial lagoon. The lagoon is connected to the North Atlantic Ocean through a 6 m deep narrow channel. Four hydrographic surveys in spring 2012, and a 2011 4-month long temperature and salinity time series of lagoon inflow show that the lake has significantly changed since 1976. Warm saline ocean water enters each tidal cycle and descends below the maximum sampled depths. The lagoon has a surface layer of ice melt, freshwater and Atlantic derived water. Beneath 10 m depth an advective/diffusive balance is responsible for determining the temperature and salinity of the lagoon waters down to ~90 m. To maintain the observed hydrographic structure, we calculate an upwelling of deep water of ~0.2 m d −1 . A survey within 30 m of Breiðamerkurjökull showed that the warmest and most saline waters sampled within the lagoon below 10 m depth were adjacent to the glacier face, along with multiple interleaved warm and cold layers. A heat and salt balance model shows that submarine melting along the ice face generates multiple meltwater plumes that are mixed and diluted within 200 m of the ice face. Article in Journal/Newspaper Annals of Glaciology glacier Ice cap Iceland North Atlantic Vatnajökull Cambridge University Press Annals of Glaciology 58 74 131 143 |
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Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
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crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
ABSTRACT Breiðamerkurjökull flows from the Vatnajökull ice cap and calves into the Jökulsárlón proglacial lagoon. The lagoon is connected to the North Atlantic Ocean through a 6 m deep narrow channel. Four hydrographic surveys in spring 2012, and a 2011 4-month long temperature and salinity time series of lagoon inflow show that the lake has significantly changed since 1976. Warm saline ocean water enters each tidal cycle and descends below the maximum sampled depths. The lagoon has a surface layer of ice melt, freshwater and Atlantic derived water. Beneath 10 m depth an advective/diffusive balance is responsible for determining the temperature and salinity of the lagoon waters down to ~90 m. To maintain the observed hydrographic structure, we calculate an upwelling of deep water of ~0.2 m d −1 . A survey within 30 m of Breiðamerkurjökull showed that the warmest and most saline waters sampled within the lagoon below 10 m depth were adjacent to the glacier face, along with multiple interleaved warm and cold layers. A heat and salt balance model shows that submarine melting along the ice face generates multiple meltwater plumes that are mixed and diluted within 200 m of the ice face. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Brandon, Mark Hodgkins, Richard Björnsson, Helgi Ólafsson, Jón |
spellingShingle |
Brandon, Mark Hodgkins, Richard Björnsson, Helgi Ólafsson, Jón Multiple melt plumes observed at the Breiðamerkurjökull ice face in the upper waters of Jökulsárlón lagoon, Iceland |
author_facet |
Brandon, Mark Hodgkins, Richard Björnsson, Helgi Ólafsson, Jón |
author_sort |
Brandon, Mark |
title |
Multiple melt plumes observed at the Breiðamerkurjökull ice face in the upper waters of Jökulsárlón lagoon, Iceland |
title_short |
Multiple melt plumes observed at the Breiðamerkurjökull ice face in the upper waters of Jökulsárlón lagoon, Iceland |
title_full |
Multiple melt plumes observed at the Breiðamerkurjökull ice face in the upper waters of Jökulsárlón lagoon, Iceland |
title_fullStr |
Multiple melt plumes observed at the Breiðamerkurjökull ice face in the upper waters of Jökulsárlón lagoon, Iceland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Multiple melt plumes observed at the Breiðamerkurjökull ice face in the upper waters of Jökulsárlón lagoon, Iceland |
title_sort |
multiple melt plumes observed at the breiðamerkurjökull ice face in the upper waters of jökulsárlón lagoon, iceland |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/aog.2017.10 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0260305517000106 |
genre |
Annals of Glaciology glacier Ice cap Iceland North Atlantic Vatnajökull |
genre_facet |
Annals of Glaciology glacier Ice cap Iceland North Atlantic Vatnajökull |
op_source |
Annals of Glaciology volume 58, issue 74, page 131-143 ISSN 0260-3055 1727-5644 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2017.10 |
container_title |
Annals of Glaciology |
container_volume |
58 |
container_issue |
74 |
container_start_page |
131 |
op_container_end_page |
143 |
_version_ |
1810483027522879488 |