Insights on the surge behavior of Storstrømmen and L. Bistrup Bræ, Northeast Greenland, over the last century

• Main Authors: Mouginot, Jeremie, Bjørk, Anders Anker, Millan, Romain, Scheuchl, Bernd, Rignot, Eric
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: Greenland; cryosphere; multisensor; surging glacier; L. Bistrup Bræ; glacier
• Online Access: https://curis.ku.dk/portal/da/publications/insights-on-the-surge-behavior-of-storstroemmen-and-l-bistrup-brae-northeast-greenland-over-the-last-century(b336fba7-1d2e-41b8-8f75-8a8f09432942).html; https://rdcu.be/93xz

We use a multisensor approach to assess the surge history over the past century of Storstrømmen and L. Bistrup Bræ, which drain the Northeast Ice Stream, Greenland. Storstrømmen surged around 1910 and Bistrup in 1913 and during the 1950s. Between 1978 and 1982, the speed of Storstrømmen peaked at 3 km/year during an active surge phase that lasted 10 years and the glacier has stayed in a quiescent phase since. Bistrup started to surge in 1988, peaked in 1993, and stopped in 1996. Both glaciers displayed a slow surge initiation and termination. Since 1993, ice builds up in the upper part of Storstrømmen at a 1 m/year, its lower part is thinning at its ablation rate of 1.4 m/year, and the grounding line has retreated by 10 km between 1992 and 2017, or 400 m/year. At these current rates, we project that Storstrømmen will meet presurge conditions in 2027–2030.