Rapid submarine melting of the calving faces of west Greenland tidewater glaciers
Widespread glacier acceleration has been observed in Greenland in the past few years associated with the thinning of the lower reaches of the glaciers as they terminate in the ocean. These glaciers thin both at the surface, from warm air temperatures, and along their submerged faces in contact with...
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ftcdlib:oai:escholarship.org/ark:/13030/qt9kf0p0rw 2023-05-15T16:21:07+02:00 Rapid submarine melting of the calving faces of west Greenland tidewater glaciers Rignot, E Koppes, M Velicogna, I 187 - 191 2010-01-01 application/pdf https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9kf0p0rw unknown eScholarship, University of California qt9kf0p0rw https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9kf0p0rw CC-BY CC-BY Nature Geosc, vol 3, iss 3 Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences article 2010 ftcdlib 2021-10-18T17:16:00Z Widespread glacier acceleration has been observed in Greenland in the past few years associated with the thinning of the lower reaches of the glaciers as they terminate in the ocean. These glaciers thin both at the surface, from warm air temperatures, and along their submerged faces in contact with warm ocean waters. Little is known about the rates of submarine melting and how they may affect glacier dynamics. Here we present measurements of ocean currents, temperature and salinity near the calving fronts of the Eqip Sermia, Kangilerngata Sermia, Sermeq Kujatdleq and Sermeq Avangnardleq glaciers in central West Greenland, as well as ice-front bathymetry and geographical positions. We calculate water-mass and heat budgets that reveal summer submarine melt rates ranging from 0.7±0.2 to3.9±0.8md−1. These rates of submarine melting are two orders of magnitude larger than surface melt rates, but comparable to rates of iceberg discharge. We conclude that ocean waters melt a considerable, but highly variable, fraction of the calving fronts of glaciers before they disintegrate into icebergs, and suggest that submarine melting must have a profound influence on grounding-line stability and ice-flow dynamics. Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier Greenland Tidewater University of California: eScholarship Eqip Sermia ENVELOPE(-50.067,-50.067,69.817,69.817) Greenland Kangilerngata Sermia ENVELOPE(-50.133,-50.133,69.933,69.933) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of California: eScholarship |
op_collection_id |
ftcdlib |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences |
spellingShingle |
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences Rignot, E Koppes, M Velicogna, I Rapid submarine melting of the calving faces of west Greenland tidewater glaciers |
topic_facet |
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences |
description |
Widespread glacier acceleration has been observed in Greenland in the past few years associated with the thinning of the lower reaches of the glaciers as they terminate in the ocean. These glaciers thin both at the surface, from warm air temperatures, and along their submerged faces in contact with warm ocean waters. Little is known about the rates of submarine melting and how they may affect glacier dynamics. Here we present measurements of ocean currents, temperature and salinity near the calving fronts of the Eqip Sermia, Kangilerngata Sermia, Sermeq Kujatdleq and Sermeq Avangnardleq glaciers in central West Greenland, as well as ice-front bathymetry and geographical positions. We calculate water-mass and heat budgets that reveal summer submarine melt rates ranging from 0.7±0.2 to3.9±0.8md−1. These rates of submarine melting are two orders of magnitude larger than surface melt rates, but comparable to rates of iceberg discharge. We conclude that ocean waters melt a considerable, but highly variable, fraction of the calving fronts of glaciers before they disintegrate into icebergs, and suggest that submarine melting must have a profound influence on grounding-line stability and ice-flow dynamics. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Rignot, E Koppes, M Velicogna, I |
author_facet |
Rignot, E Koppes, M Velicogna, I |
author_sort |
Rignot, E |
title |
Rapid submarine melting of the calving faces of west Greenland tidewater glaciers |
title_short |
Rapid submarine melting of the calving faces of west Greenland tidewater glaciers |
title_full |
Rapid submarine melting of the calving faces of west Greenland tidewater glaciers |
title_fullStr |
Rapid submarine melting of the calving faces of west Greenland tidewater glaciers |
title_full_unstemmed |
Rapid submarine melting of the calving faces of west Greenland tidewater glaciers |
title_sort |
rapid submarine melting of the calving faces of west greenland tidewater glaciers |
publisher |
eScholarship, University of California |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9kf0p0rw |
op_coverage |
187 - 191 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-50.067,-50.067,69.817,69.817) ENVELOPE(-50.133,-50.133,69.933,69.933) |
geographic |
Eqip Sermia Greenland Kangilerngata Sermia |
geographic_facet |
Eqip Sermia Greenland Kangilerngata Sermia |
genre |
glacier Greenland Tidewater |
genre_facet |
glacier Greenland Tidewater |
op_source |
Nature Geosc, vol 3, iss 3 |
op_relation |
qt9kf0p0rw https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9kf0p0rw |
op_rights |
CC-BY |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
_version_ |
1766009130089185280 |