Hydrologic controls on coastal suspended sediment plumes around the Greenland Ice Sheet ...

• Main Authors: Smith, Laurence C., Rennermalm, Asa K., Box, J. E., Forster, R. R., Chu, V. W.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: European Geosciences Union 2012
• Subjects: Greenland Ice Sheet; Ice sheets > Greenland; Runoff; Meltwater > Greenland; Sediments Geology > Greenland; Suspended sediments; Remote Sensing; Hydrology; Greenland; Ice Sheet; Kangerlussuaq
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.7282/t3z036k1; https://scholarship.libraries.rutgers.edu/esploro/outputs/journalArticle/991031550047404646

Rising sea levels and increased surface melting of the Greenland ice sheet have heightened the need for direct observations of meltwater release from the ice edge to ocean. Buoyant sediment plumes that develop in fjords downstream of outlet glaciers are controlled by numerous factors, including meltwater runoff. Here, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite imagery is used to average surface suspended sediment concentration (SSC) in fjords around ∼80% of Greenland from 2000–2009. Spatial and temporal patterns in SSC are compared with positive-degree-days (PDD), a proxy for surface melting, from the Polar MM5 regional climate model. Over this decade significant geographic covariance occurred between ice sheet PDD and fjord SSC, with outlet type (land- vs. marine-terminating glaciers) also important. In general, high SSC is associated with high PDD and/or a high proportion of land-terminating glaciers. Unlike previous site-specific studies of the Watson River plume at Kangerlussuaq, ...