Precursor motion to iceberg calving at Jakobshavn Isbræ, Greenland, observed with terrestrial radar interferometry

Time-varying elevations near the calving front of Jakobshavn Isbræ, Greenland were observed with a terrestrial radar interferometer (TRI) in June 2015. An ice block with surface dimensions of 1370 m × 290 m calved on 10 June. TRI-generated time series show that ice elevation near the calving front b...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Glaciology
Main Authors: SURUI XIE, TIMOTHY H. DIXON, DENIS VOYTENKO, DAVID M. HOLLAND, DENISE HOLLAND, TIANTIAN ZHENG
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press 2016
Subjects:
glacier calving
ice block rotation
Lagrangian coordinates
subsurface melting
terrestrial radar interferometry
Environmental sciences
GE1-350
Meteorology. Climatology
QC851-999
Greenland
Jakobshavn Isbræ
glacier
Jakobshavn
Jakobshavn isbræ
Journal of Glaciology
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2016.104
https://doaj.org/article/27ea2fdffaf14d6287906379bb5b6f4f
Description
Summary:Time-varying elevations near the calving front of Jakobshavn Isbræ, Greenland were observed with a terrestrial radar interferometer (TRI) in June 2015. An ice block with surface dimensions of 1370 m × 290 m calved on 10 June. TRI-generated time series show that ice elevation near the calving front began to increase 65 h prior to the event, and can be fit with a simple block rotation model. We hypothesize that subsurface melting at the base of the floating terminus breaks the gravity-buoyancy equilibrium, leading to slow subsidence and rotation of the block, and its eventual failure.

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