Improved Monitoring of Subglacial Lake Activity in Greenland
Subglacial lakes form beneath ice sheets and ice caps if water is available, and if bedrock and surface topography are able to retain the water. On a regional scale, the lakes modulate the timing and rate of freshwater flow through the subglacial system to the ocean by acting as reservoirs. More tha...
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ftcopernicus:oai:publications.copernicus.org:tcd108615 2023-05-15T13:38:41+02:00 Improved Monitoring of Subglacial Lake Activity in Greenland Sandberg Sørensen, Louise Bahbah, Rasmus Simonsen, Sebastian B. Havelund Andersen, Natalia Bowling, Jade Gourmelen, Noel Horton, Alex Karlsson, Nanna B. Leeson, Amber Maddalena, Jennifer McMillan, Malcolm Solgaard, Anne Munck Wessel, Birgit 2023-01-13 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2022-263 https://tc.copernicus.org/preprints/tc-2022-263/ eng eng doi:10.5194/tc-2022-263 https://tc.copernicus.org/preprints/tc-2022-263/ eISSN: 1994-0424 Text 2023 ftcopernicus https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2022-263 2023-01-16T17:22:42Z Subglacial lakes form beneath ice sheets and ice caps if water is available, and if bedrock and surface topography are able to retain the water. On a regional scale, the lakes modulate the timing and rate of freshwater flow through the subglacial system to the ocean by acting as reservoirs. More than one hundred hydrologically active subglacial lakes, that drain and recharge periodically, have been documented under the Antarctic ice sheet, while only a handful of active lakes have been identified in Greenland. The small size of the Greenlandic subglacial lakes puts additional demands on mapping capabilitie aiming to resolve the evolving surface topography in sufficient detail to record their temporal behavior. Here, we explore the potential for combining data from CryoSat-2, TanDEM-X, and ArcticDEM to document the evolution of four active subglacial lake sites in Greenland. The inclusion of the new data sources provides important information on lake activity, documenting that the ice surface collapse basin on Flade Isblink ice cap was 50 % (30 meters) deeper than previously recorded. We also present evidence of a new active subglacial lake in Southwest Greenland, which shows signs of being hydrologically connected to another subglacial lake in that region. These findings show how improving the measurement capabilities of subglacial lakes, improves our current understanding and knowledge of the subglacial water system and its connection to surface hydrology. Text Antarc* Antarctic Greenland greenlandic Ice cap Ice Sheet Copernicus Publications: E-Journals Antarctic Flade Isblink ENVELOPE(-15.000,-15.000,81.583,81.583) Greenland The Antarctic |
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Open Polar |
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Copernicus Publications: E-Journals |
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ftcopernicus |
language |
English |
description |
Subglacial lakes form beneath ice sheets and ice caps if water is available, and if bedrock and surface topography are able to retain the water. On a regional scale, the lakes modulate the timing and rate of freshwater flow through the subglacial system to the ocean by acting as reservoirs. More than one hundred hydrologically active subglacial lakes, that drain and recharge periodically, have been documented under the Antarctic ice sheet, while only a handful of active lakes have been identified in Greenland. The small size of the Greenlandic subglacial lakes puts additional demands on mapping capabilitie aiming to resolve the evolving surface topography in sufficient detail to record their temporal behavior. Here, we explore the potential for combining data from CryoSat-2, TanDEM-X, and ArcticDEM to document the evolution of four active subglacial lake sites in Greenland. The inclusion of the new data sources provides important information on lake activity, documenting that the ice surface collapse basin on Flade Isblink ice cap was 50 % (30 meters) deeper than previously recorded. We also present evidence of a new active subglacial lake in Southwest Greenland, which shows signs of being hydrologically connected to another subglacial lake in that region. These findings show how improving the measurement capabilities of subglacial lakes, improves our current understanding and knowledge of the subglacial water system and its connection to surface hydrology. |
format |
Text |
author |
Sandberg Sørensen, Louise Bahbah, Rasmus Simonsen, Sebastian B. Havelund Andersen, Natalia Bowling, Jade Gourmelen, Noel Horton, Alex Karlsson, Nanna B. Leeson, Amber Maddalena, Jennifer McMillan, Malcolm Solgaard, Anne Munck Wessel, Birgit |
spellingShingle |
Sandberg Sørensen, Louise Bahbah, Rasmus Simonsen, Sebastian B. Havelund Andersen, Natalia Bowling, Jade Gourmelen, Noel Horton, Alex Karlsson, Nanna B. Leeson, Amber Maddalena, Jennifer McMillan, Malcolm Solgaard, Anne Munck Wessel, Birgit Improved Monitoring of Subglacial Lake Activity in Greenland |
author_facet |
Sandberg Sørensen, Louise Bahbah, Rasmus Simonsen, Sebastian B. Havelund Andersen, Natalia Bowling, Jade Gourmelen, Noel Horton, Alex Karlsson, Nanna B. Leeson, Amber Maddalena, Jennifer McMillan, Malcolm Solgaard, Anne Munck Wessel, Birgit |
author_sort |
Sandberg Sørensen, Louise |
title |
Improved Monitoring of Subglacial Lake Activity in Greenland |
title_short |
Improved Monitoring of Subglacial Lake Activity in Greenland |
title_full |
Improved Monitoring of Subglacial Lake Activity in Greenland |
title_fullStr |
Improved Monitoring of Subglacial Lake Activity in Greenland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Improved Monitoring of Subglacial Lake Activity in Greenland |
title_sort |
improved monitoring of subglacial lake activity in greenland |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2022-263 https://tc.copernicus.org/preprints/tc-2022-263/ |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-15.000,-15.000,81.583,81.583) |
geographic |
Antarctic Flade Isblink Greenland The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Flade Isblink Greenland The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Greenland greenlandic Ice cap Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Greenland greenlandic Ice cap Ice Sheet |
op_source |
eISSN: 1994-0424 |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/tc-2022-263 https://tc.copernicus.org/preprints/tc-2022-263/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2022-263 |
_version_ |
1766109777100800000 |