Relative Roles of Plume and Coastal Forcing on Exchange Flow Variability of a Glacial Fjord
Abstract: Glacial fjord circulation determines the import of oceanic heat to the Greenland Ice Sheet and the export of ice sheet meltwater to the ocean. However, limited observations and the presence of both glacial and coastal forcing—such as coastal‐trapped waves—make uncovering the physical mecha...
Published in: | Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | unknown |
Published: |
eScholarship, University of California
2024
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8s0330jc https://escholarship.org/content/qt8s0330jc/qt8s0330jc.pdf https://doi.org/10.1029/2023jc020492 |
id |
ftcdlib:oai:escholarship.org:ark:/13030/qt8s0330jc |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftcdlib:oai:escholarship.org:ark:/13030/qt8s0330jc 2024-09-15T18:04:20+00:00 Relative Roles of Plume and Coastal Forcing on Exchange Flow Variability of a Glacial Fjord Sanchez, Robert Straneo, Fiammetta Hughes, Kenneth Barbour, Philip Shroyer, Emily 2024-06-01 application/pdf https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8s0330jc https://escholarship.org/content/qt8s0330jc/qt8s0330jc.pdf https://doi.org/10.1029/2023jc020492 unknown eScholarship, University of California qt8s0330jc https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8s0330jc https://escholarship.org/content/qt8s0330jc/qt8s0330jc.pdf doi:10.1029/2023jc020492 CC-BY Journal of Geophysical Research - Oceans, vol 129, iss 6 Earth Sciences Oceanography Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience Life Below Water glacial fjord total exchange flow high-latitude estuary East Greenland buoyant plume coastal downwelling Geophysics article 2024 ftcdlib https://doi.org/10.1029/2023jc020492 2024-06-28T06:28:00Z Abstract: Glacial fjord circulation determines the import of oceanic heat to the Greenland Ice Sheet and the export of ice sheet meltwater to the ocean. However, limited observations and the presence of both glacial and coastal forcing—such as coastal‐trapped waves—make uncovering the physical mechanisms controlling fjord‐shelf exchange difficult. Here we use multi‐year, high‐resolution, realistically forced numerical simulations of Sermilik Fjord in southeast Greenland to evaluate the exchange flow. We compare models, with and without a plume, to differentiate between the exchange flow driven by shelf variability and that driven by subglacial discharge. We use the Total Exchange Flow framework to quantify the exchange volume transports. We find that a decline in offshore wind stress from January through July drives a seasonal reversal in the exchange flow increasing the presence of warm Atlantic Water at depth. We also find that including glacial plumes doubles the exchange flow in the summer. Our results show that the plume‐driven circulation is more effective at renewal with a flushing time 1/3 that of the shelf‐driven circulation near the fjord head. Article in Journal/Newspaper East Greenland Greenland Ice Sheet Sermilik University of California: eScholarship Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 129 6 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of California: eScholarship |
op_collection_id |
ftcdlib |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Earth Sciences Oceanography Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience Life Below Water glacial fjord total exchange flow high-latitude estuary East Greenland buoyant plume coastal downwelling Geophysics |
spellingShingle |
Earth Sciences Oceanography Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience Life Below Water glacial fjord total exchange flow high-latitude estuary East Greenland buoyant plume coastal downwelling Geophysics Sanchez, Robert Straneo, Fiammetta Hughes, Kenneth Barbour, Philip Shroyer, Emily Relative Roles of Plume and Coastal Forcing on Exchange Flow Variability of a Glacial Fjord |
topic_facet |
Earth Sciences Oceanography Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience Life Below Water glacial fjord total exchange flow high-latitude estuary East Greenland buoyant plume coastal downwelling Geophysics |
description |
Abstract: Glacial fjord circulation determines the import of oceanic heat to the Greenland Ice Sheet and the export of ice sheet meltwater to the ocean. However, limited observations and the presence of both glacial and coastal forcing—such as coastal‐trapped waves—make uncovering the physical mechanisms controlling fjord‐shelf exchange difficult. Here we use multi‐year, high‐resolution, realistically forced numerical simulations of Sermilik Fjord in southeast Greenland to evaluate the exchange flow. We compare models, with and without a plume, to differentiate between the exchange flow driven by shelf variability and that driven by subglacial discharge. We use the Total Exchange Flow framework to quantify the exchange volume transports. We find that a decline in offshore wind stress from January through July drives a seasonal reversal in the exchange flow increasing the presence of warm Atlantic Water at depth. We also find that including glacial plumes doubles the exchange flow in the summer. Our results show that the plume‐driven circulation is more effective at renewal with a flushing time 1/3 that of the shelf‐driven circulation near the fjord head. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Sanchez, Robert Straneo, Fiammetta Hughes, Kenneth Barbour, Philip Shroyer, Emily |
author_facet |
Sanchez, Robert Straneo, Fiammetta Hughes, Kenneth Barbour, Philip Shroyer, Emily |
author_sort |
Sanchez, Robert |
title |
Relative Roles of Plume and Coastal Forcing on Exchange Flow Variability of a Glacial Fjord |
title_short |
Relative Roles of Plume and Coastal Forcing on Exchange Flow Variability of a Glacial Fjord |
title_full |
Relative Roles of Plume and Coastal Forcing on Exchange Flow Variability of a Glacial Fjord |
title_fullStr |
Relative Roles of Plume and Coastal Forcing on Exchange Flow Variability of a Glacial Fjord |
title_full_unstemmed |
Relative Roles of Plume and Coastal Forcing on Exchange Flow Variability of a Glacial Fjord |
title_sort |
relative roles of plume and coastal forcing on exchange flow variability of a glacial fjord |
publisher |
eScholarship, University of California |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8s0330jc https://escholarship.org/content/qt8s0330jc/qt8s0330jc.pdf https://doi.org/10.1029/2023jc020492 |
genre |
East Greenland Greenland Ice Sheet Sermilik |
genre_facet |
East Greenland Greenland Ice Sheet Sermilik |
op_source |
Journal of Geophysical Research - Oceans, vol 129, iss 6 |
op_relation |
qt8s0330jc https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8s0330jc https://escholarship.org/content/qt8s0330jc/qt8s0330jc.pdf doi:10.1029/2023jc020492 |
op_rights |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2023jc020492 |
container_title |
Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans |
container_volume |
129 |
container_issue |
6 |
_version_ |
1810441825713913856 |