A Major Collapse of Kangerlussuaq Glacier's Ice Tongue Between 1932 and 1933 in East Greenland

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: Vermassen, Flor, Bjørk, Anders A., Sicre, Marie Alexandrine, Jaeger, John M., Wangner, David J., Kjeldsen, Kristian K., Siggaard-Andersen, Marie Louise, Klein, Vincent, Mouginot, Jeremie, Kjær, Kurt H., Andresen, Camilla S.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2020
• Subjects: alkenones; Glacier retreat; historical documents; IRD; Kangerlussuaq Glacier; East Greenland; glacier; Greenland; Kangerlussuaq; North Greenland
• Online Access: https://curis.ku.dk/portal/da/publications/a-major-collapse-of-kangerlussuaq-glaciers-ice-tongue-between-1932-and-1933-in-east-greenland(c7a3a864-095e-4da8-ab0b-d1b229f258ec).html; https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL085954; https://curis.ku.dk/ws/files/242417291/2019GL085954.pdf

In recent years, several large outlet glaciers in Greenland lost their floating ice tongue, yet little is known regarding their stability over a longer timescale. Here we compile historical documents to demonstrate a major ice tongue collapse of Kangerlussuaq Glacier between 1932 and 1933. This event resulted in a 9-km retreat, exceeding any of the glacier's recent major retreat events. Sediment cores from the fjord are used to reconstruct sea surface temperatures and to investigate a potential sedimentological trace of the collapse. During the 1920s, local and regional sea surface temperatures and air temperatures increased rapidly, suggesting a climatic trigger for the collapse. Fjord bathymetry played an important role too, as the (partially) pinned ice tongue retreated off a submarine moraine during the event. This historical analogue of a glacier tongue collapse emphasizes the fragility of remaining ice tongues in North Greenland within a warming climate.