Ocean Dynamics of Greenland’s Glacial Fjords at Subannual to Seasonal Timescales
Mass loss of the Greenland Ice Sheet is expected to accelerate in the 21st century in response to both a warming atmosphere and ocean, with consequences for sea level rise, polar ecosystems and potentially the global overturning circulation. Glacial fjords connect Greenland’s marine-terminating glac...
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2023
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ftcdlib:oai:escholarship.org:ark:/13030/qt1964s1fh 2024-09-15T18:07:45+00:00 Ocean Dynamics of Greenland’s Glacial Fjords at Subannual to Seasonal Timescales Sanchez, Robert M Straneo, Fiammetta 2023-01-01 application/pdf https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1964s1fh https://escholarship.org/content/qt1964s1fh/qt1964s1fh.pdf en eng eScholarship, University of California qt1964s1fh https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1964s1fh https://escholarship.org/content/qt1964s1fh/qt1964s1fh.pdf public Physical oceanography Environmental science Acoustics buoyancy-driven flow estuaries Glacial Fjords Greenland ice-ocean interaction PIES etd 2023 ftcdlib 2024-06-28T06:28:20Z Mass loss of the Greenland Ice Sheet is expected to accelerate in the 21st century in response to both a warming atmosphere and ocean, with consequences for sea level rise, polar ecosystems and potentially the global overturning circulation. Glacial fjords connect Greenland’s marine-terminating glaciers with the continental shelf, and fjord circulation plays a critical role in modulating the import of heat from the ocean and the export of freshwater from the ice sheet. Understanding fjord dynamics is crucial to predicting the cryosphere and ocean response to a changing climate. However, representing glacial fjord dynamics in climate models is an ongoing challenge because fjord circulation is complex and sensitive to glacial forcing that is poorly understood. Additionally, there are limited observations available for constraining models and theory. This dissertation aims to improve our understanding of fjord dynamics, focusing on key aspects (heat variability, freshwater residence time, and fjord exchange) which need to be included in glacial fjord parameterizations.We use three approaches combining novel observations, idealized, modeling and numerical simulations to investigate the dynamics of fjord circulation at different spatial scales. First, we investigate the heat content variability in the fjord using acoustic travel time (Chapter 2). We demonstrate that acoustic travel time can be used to model fjord stratification during winter months and monitor heat content variability at synoptic and seasonal timescales. Secondly, we use a combination of in situ observations and an idealized box model to evaluate freshwater residence time in a west Greenland Fjord (Chapter 3). We find that meltwater from the ice sheet is mixed downward across multiple layers near the glacier terminus resulting in freshwater storage and a delay in freshwater export from the fjord. Finally we analyze a multi-year realistically forced numerical simulation of Sermilik Fjord in southeast Greenland and identify the impact of shelf and ... Thesis glacier Greenland Ice Sheet Sermilik University of California: eScholarship |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of California: eScholarship |
op_collection_id |
ftcdlib |
language |
English |
topic |
Physical oceanography Environmental science Acoustics buoyancy-driven flow estuaries Glacial Fjords Greenland ice-ocean interaction PIES |
spellingShingle |
Physical oceanography Environmental science Acoustics buoyancy-driven flow estuaries Glacial Fjords Greenland ice-ocean interaction PIES Sanchez, Robert M Ocean Dynamics of Greenland’s Glacial Fjords at Subannual to Seasonal Timescales |
topic_facet |
Physical oceanography Environmental science Acoustics buoyancy-driven flow estuaries Glacial Fjords Greenland ice-ocean interaction PIES |
description |
Mass loss of the Greenland Ice Sheet is expected to accelerate in the 21st century in response to both a warming atmosphere and ocean, with consequences for sea level rise, polar ecosystems and potentially the global overturning circulation. Glacial fjords connect Greenland’s marine-terminating glaciers with the continental shelf, and fjord circulation plays a critical role in modulating the import of heat from the ocean and the export of freshwater from the ice sheet. Understanding fjord dynamics is crucial to predicting the cryosphere and ocean response to a changing climate. However, representing glacial fjord dynamics in climate models is an ongoing challenge because fjord circulation is complex and sensitive to glacial forcing that is poorly understood. Additionally, there are limited observations available for constraining models and theory. This dissertation aims to improve our understanding of fjord dynamics, focusing on key aspects (heat variability, freshwater residence time, and fjord exchange) which need to be included in glacial fjord parameterizations.We use three approaches combining novel observations, idealized, modeling and numerical simulations to investigate the dynamics of fjord circulation at different spatial scales. First, we investigate the heat content variability in the fjord using acoustic travel time (Chapter 2). We demonstrate that acoustic travel time can be used to model fjord stratification during winter months and monitor heat content variability at synoptic and seasonal timescales. Secondly, we use a combination of in situ observations and an idealized box model to evaluate freshwater residence time in a west Greenland Fjord (Chapter 3). We find that meltwater from the ice sheet is mixed downward across multiple layers near the glacier terminus resulting in freshwater storage and a delay in freshwater export from the fjord. Finally we analyze a multi-year realistically forced numerical simulation of Sermilik Fjord in southeast Greenland and identify the impact of shelf and ... |
author2 |
Straneo, Fiammetta |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Sanchez, Robert M |
author_facet |
Sanchez, Robert M |
author_sort |
Sanchez, Robert M |
title |
Ocean Dynamics of Greenland’s Glacial Fjords at Subannual to Seasonal Timescales |
title_short |
Ocean Dynamics of Greenland’s Glacial Fjords at Subannual to Seasonal Timescales |
title_full |
Ocean Dynamics of Greenland’s Glacial Fjords at Subannual to Seasonal Timescales |
title_fullStr |
Ocean Dynamics of Greenland’s Glacial Fjords at Subannual to Seasonal Timescales |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ocean Dynamics of Greenland’s Glacial Fjords at Subannual to Seasonal Timescales |
title_sort |
ocean dynamics of greenland’s glacial fjords at subannual to seasonal timescales |
publisher |
eScholarship, University of California |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1964s1fh https://escholarship.org/content/qt1964s1fh/qt1964s1fh.pdf |
genre |
glacier Greenland Ice Sheet Sermilik |
genre_facet |
glacier Greenland Ice Sheet Sermilik |
op_relation |
qt1964s1fh https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1964s1fh https://escholarship.org/content/qt1964s1fh/qt1964s1fh.pdf |
op_rights |
public |
_version_ |
1810445122788130816 |