Ryder Glacier in northwest Greenland is shielded from warm Atlantic water by a bathymetric sill

Abstract The processes controlling advance and retreat of outlet glaciers in fjords draining the Greenland Ice Sheet remain poorly known, undermining assessments of their dynamics and associated sea-level rise in a warming climate. Mass loss of the Greenland Ice Sheet has increased six-fold over the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Communications Earth & Environment
Main Authors: Jakobsson, Martin, Mayer, Larry A., Nilsson, Johan, Stranne, Christian, Calder, Brian, O’Regan, Matthew, Farrell, John W., Cronin, Thomas M., Brüchert, Volker, Chawarski, Julek, Eriksson, Björn, Fredriksson, Jonas, Gemery, Laura, Glueder, Anna, Holmes, Felicity A., Jerram, Kevin, Kirchner, Nina, Mix, Alan, Muchowski, Julia, Prakash, Abhay, Reilly, Brendan, Thornton, Brett, Ulfsbo, Adam, Weidner, Elizabeth, Åkesson, Henning, Handl, Tamara, Ståhl, Emelie, Boze, Lee-Gray, Reed, Sam, West, Gabriel, Padman, June
Other Authors: Vetenskapsrådet, The Nippon Foundation of Japan did provide some funding.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2020
Subjects:
General Earth and Planetary Sciences
General Environmental Science
Arctic
Arctic Ocean
Greenland
Osborn
Ryder
Ryder Glacier
Sherard Osborn Fjord
glacier
Ice Sheet
Sherard Osborn fjord
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s43247-020-00043-0
http://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-020-00043-0.pdf
http://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-020-00043-0
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Summary:Abstract The processes controlling advance and retreat of outlet glaciers in fjords draining the Greenland Ice Sheet remain poorly known, undermining assessments of their dynamics and associated sea-level rise in a warming climate. Mass loss of the Greenland Ice Sheet has increased six-fold over the last four decades, with discharge and melt from outlet glaciers comprising key components of this loss. Here we acquired oceanographic data and multibeam bathymetry in the previously uncharted Sherard Osborn Fjord in northwest Greenland where Ryder Glacier drains into the Arctic Ocean. Our data show that warmer subsurface water of Atlantic origin enters the fjord, but Ryder Glacier’s floating tongue at its present location is partly protected from the inflow by a bathymetric sill located in the innermost fjord. This reduces under-ice melting of the glacier, providing insight into Ryder Glacier’s dynamics and its vulnerability to inflow of Atlantic warmer water.

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