How Greenland melts
Satellite altimetry and gravimetry show that the Greenland ice sheet has been losing volume and mass since the beginning of this century. However, from these short time series of direct measurements we cannot infer what the causes of the mass loss are, i.e. ice dynamics or surface processes, or that...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:18bdf914ea0243a79b08db1da94bb55f 2023-05-15T16:24:43+02:00 How Greenland melts van den Broeke M.R. 2010-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/201009011 https://doaj.org/article/18bdf914ea0243a79b08db1da94bb55f EN eng EDP Sciences http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/201009011 https://doaj.org/toc/2100-014X doi:10.1051/epjconf/201009011 2100-014X https://doaj.org/article/18bdf914ea0243a79b08db1da94bb55f EPJ Web of Conferences, Vol 9, Pp 137-142 (2010) Physics QC1-999 article 2010 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/201009011 2022-12-31T16:04:05Z Satellite altimetry and gravimetry show that the Greenland ice sheet has been losing volume and mass since the beginning of this century. However, from these short time series of direct measurements we cannot infer what the causes of the mass loss are, i.e. ice dynamics or surface processes, or that maybe the ice sheet returns to normal after a period of volume increase and mass gain. By modelling and observing the individual components of the ice sheet mass balance, i.e. snowfall, meltwater runoff and iceberg production, we are able to identify the processes that led to the recent mass loss. We conclude that the Greenland ice sheet is significantly out of balance. Acceleration of outlet glaciers and increased runoff have contributed equally to recent Greenland mass loss. The potential for mass loss by surface processes, however, was three times greater than actually observed, due to refreezing and enhanced snowfall. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Ice Sheet Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Greenland EPJ Web of Conferences 9 137 142 |
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Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
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English |
topic |
Physics QC1-999 |
spellingShingle |
Physics QC1-999 van den Broeke M.R. How Greenland melts |
topic_facet |
Physics QC1-999 |
description |
Satellite altimetry and gravimetry show that the Greenland ice sheet has been losing volume and mass since the beginning of this century. However, from these short time series of direct measurements we cannot infer what the causes of the mass loss are, i.e. ice dynamics or surface processes, or that maybe the ice sheet returns to normal after a period of volume increase and mass gain. By modelling and observing the individual components of the ice sheet mass balance, i.e. snowfall, meltwater runoff and iceberg production, we are able to identify the processes that led to the recent mass loss. We conclude that the Greenland ice sheet is significantly out of balance. Acceleration of outlet glaciers and increased runoff have contributed equally to recent Greenland mass loss. The potential for mass loss by surface processes, however, was three times greater than actually observed, due to refreezing and enhanced snowfall. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
van den Broeke M.R. |
author_facet |
van den Broeke M.R. |
author_sort |
van den Broeke M.R. |
title |
How Greenland melts |
title_short |
How Greenland melts |
title_full |
How Greenland melts |
title_fullStr |
How Greenland melts |
title_full_unstemmed |
How Greenland melts |
title_sort |
how greenland melts |
publisher |
EDP Sciences |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/201009011 https://doaj.org/article/18bdf914ea0243a79b08db1da94bb55f |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Greenland Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Greenland Ice Sheet |
op_source |
EPJ Web of Conferences, Vol 9, Pp 137-142 (2010) |
op_relation |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/201009011 https://doaj.org/toc/2100-014X doi:10.1051/epjconf/201009011 2100-014X https://doaj.org/article/18bdf914ea0243a79b08db1da94bb55f |
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https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/201009011 |
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EPJ Web of Conferences |
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9 |
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137 |
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142 |
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1766013264996597760 |