Identifying and characterizing the spatial variability of supraglacial hydrological features on the western Greenland Ice Sheet ...

• Main Author: King, Leonora Adele
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2018
• Subjects: glacier; Greenland; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0372827; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0372827

Glacier and ice sheet response to climate change is modulated in part by the temporal and spatial delivery of surface water to the subglacial system which can enhance ice sliding. Surface-to-bed connections are formed by near-vertical pathways through the ice called moulins. The mechanisms through which moulins form and the hydrological implications of their distribution are inadequately constrained. This thesis focuses on the southwest Greenland Ice Sheet, where surface melt and related features are abundant and where meltwater drainage through moulins has been empirically linked to ice speedup. In the first part, I employ flow routing over a high resolution digital elevation model to delineate supraglacial channels and catchments. I compare my results to an independent dataset and demonstrate that flow routing is an effective tool for delineating channels in high detail. Whereas multispectral methods provide instantaneous discharge estimates and flow routing derived catchments can be used to build hourly ...