Iceberg distributions in Greenland’s fjords ...

• Main Author: Shiggins, Connor
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: University of Liverpool Repository 2023
• Subjects: Greenland; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.17638/03172587; https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3172587

Iceberg calving is currently responsible for half of the mass loss from Greenland’s marine-terminating glaciers and could increase well into the 21st century. While dynamically important for the stability of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS), icebergs also have a major influence on fjord circulation and stratification through melting and the subsequent release of fresh and cold water. The ice-ocean interface remains a difficult to access zone and we consequently know little about iceberg distributions in the near-terminus regions of Greenland’s outlet glaciers. This is as a result of few observational studies existing which have sought to derive iceberg observations in the fjords of Greenland. This study utilises cloud computing techniques and digital elevation models (DEMs) to automatically detect icebergs around the GrIS and constrain their distributions to interpret the importance of iceberg sizes on calving and fjord dynamics. This thesis shows cloud computing is a powerful application to automatically ...