Identifying Iceberg Production Processes, Drift Patterns, and Coexistence with Ships in the Eastern Canadian Arctic ...

• Main Author: Dalton, Abigail
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa 2023
• Subjects: Canadian Arctic; Icebergs; Glaciology; Remote Sensing; Arctic; Ekblaw; Greenland; glacier; Ice Sheet; Iceberg*; Tidewater
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.20381/ruor-29563; http://ruor.uottawa.ca/handle/10393/45357

Tidewater glaciers drain a significant proportion of the Greenland Ice Sheet and ice masses of the Canadian Arctic and provide the primary source of icebergs in Canadian waters. However, there remains uncertainty surrounding the processes controlling ice discharge from Canadian Arctic glaciers, the drift paths of icebergs in Canadian waters, and the proximity of icebergs to shipping in the region. This thesis quantifies the processes controlling glacier dynamics from four primary glacier basins on the Prince of Wales (POW) Icefield and using a multi-year dataset of iceberg drift tracks, identifies drift patterns and proximity to ships throughout the eastern Canadian Arctic. On the POW Icefield between 2009 and 2019, Cadogan and Ekblaw glaciers underwent multiyear acceleration and deceleration limited to their lower parts, consistent with characteristics of "pulse-type" glaciers. Trinity and Wykeham glaciers underwent repeating multiyear periods of velocity acceleration between 2009 and 2019 which coincided ...