Crustal uplift rates of 4 GPS stations near Jakobshavn Isbrae (2006-2009) ...

• Main Authors: Khan, Shfaqat Abbas, Liu, Lin, Wahr, John, Howat, Ian M, Joughin, Ian, van Dam, Tonie, Fleming, Kevin
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2010
• Subjects: International Polar Year 2007-2008 IPY; Airborne Topographic Mapper; glacier; Greenland; Ilulissat; International Polar Year; IPY; Jakobshavn; Kangia
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.811985; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.811985

We analyze 2006-2009 data from four continuous Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers located between 5 and 150 km from the glacier Jakobshavn Isbrae, West Greenland. The GPS stations were established on bedrock to determine the vertical crustal motion due to the unloading of ice from Jakobshavn Isbrae. All stations experienced uplift, but the uplift rate at Kangia North, only 5 km from the glacier front, was about 10 mm/yr larger than the rate at Ilulissat, located only ~45 km further away. This suggests that most of the uplift is due to the unloading of the Earth's surface as Jakobshavn thins and loses mass. Our estimate of Jakobshavn's contribution to uplift rates at Kangia North and Ilulissat are 14.6 ± 1.7 mm/yr and 4.9 ± 1.1 mm/yr, respectively. The observed rates are consistent with a glacier thinning model based on repeat altimeter surveys from NASA's Airborne Topographic Mapper (ATM), which shows that Jakobshavn lost mass at an average rate of 22 ± 2 km**3/yr between 2006 and 2009. At Kangia ... : Data extracted in the frame of a joint ICSTI/PANGAEA IPY effort, see http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.150150 ...