Historical ablation rates on south-east Greenland glaciers measured in the 1933 warm summer
Ice ablation rates measured on four glaciers in south-east Greenland in summer 1933 are recovered from an old field book of geologist K. Milthers. These unpublished ablation data are among the first measured in Greenland and were obtained during a warm period comparable to that of recent years. Abla...
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Norwegian Polar Institute
2016
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:2c0337a81b4a474795a1a830ef6565d7 2023-05-15T16:03:33+02:00 Historical ablation rates on south-east Greenland glaciers measured in the 1933 warm summer Bent Hasholt Dirk van As Niels Tvis Knudsen 2016-07-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v35.28858 https://doaj.org/article/2c0337a81b4a474795a1a830ef6565d7 EN eng Norwegian Polar Institute http://www.polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/28858/47796 https://doaj.org/toc/1751-8369 1751-8369 doi:10.3402/polar.v35.28858 https://doaj.org/article/2c0337a81b4a474795a1a830ef6565d7 Polar Research, Vol 35, Iss 0, Pp 1-7 (2016) Surface mass balance positive degree-days climate change Mittivakkat Glacier Milthers 7th Thule Expedition Environmental sciences GE1-350 Oceanography GC1-1581 article 2016 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v35.28858 2022-12-31T00:41:16Z Ice ablation rates measured on four glaciers in south-east Greenland in summer 1933 are recovered from an old field book of geologist K. Milthers. These unpublished ablation data are among the first measured in Greenland and were obtained during a warm period comparable to that of recent years. Ablation rates of up to 45 mm ice eq. d−1 were observed. Using the Tasiilaq meteorological record, we calculate degree-day factors of ca. 3–5 mm ice eq. d−1°C−1. Comparing these results with 1996–2012 observations at one of Milthers’ glaciers (Mittivakkat), we find that ablation rates and degree-day factors are significantly higher (61±50%) in recent years. We speculate this to be due to a reduction in surface albedo, and perhaps the retreat of the glaciers out of the cold maritime inversion layer. Our findings suggest that using a temperature-index method that assumes constant degree-day factors may produce inaccurate long-term ablation estimates for south-east Greenland glaciers, further emphasizing the value of the rare 1933 measurements for validation of ablation models. Article in Journal/Newspaper East Greenland glacier Greenland Polar Research Tasiilaq Thule Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Greenland Tasiilaq ENVELOPE(-37.637,-37.637,65.615,65.615) Polar Research 35 1 28858 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Surface mass balance positive degree-days climate change Mittivakkat Glacier Milthers 7th Thule Expedition Environmental sciences GE1-350 Oceanography GC1-1581 |
spellingShingle |
Surface mass balance positive degree-days climate change Mittivakkat Glacier Milthers 7th Thule Expedition Environmental sciences GE1-350 Oceanography GC1-1581 Bent Hasholt Dirk van As Niels Tvis Knudsen Historical ablation rates on south-east Greenland glaciers measured in the 1933 warm summer |
topic_facet |
Surface mass balance positive degree-days climate change Mittivakkat Glacier Milthers 7th Thule Expedition Environmental sciences GE1-350 Oceanography GC1-1581 |
description |
Ice ablation rates measured on four glaciers in south-east Greenland in summer 1933 are recovered from an old field book of geologist K. Milthers. These unpublished ablation data are among the first measured in Greenland and were obtained during a warm period comparable to that of recent years. Ablation rates of up to 45 mm ice eq. d−1 were observed. Using the Tasiilaq meteorological record, we calculate degree-day factors of ca. 3–5 mm ice eq. d−1°C−1. Comparing these results with 1996–2012 observations at one of Milthers’ glaciers (Mittivakkat), we find that ablation rates and degree-day factors are significantly higher (61±50%) in recent years. We speculate this to be due to a reduction in surface albedo, and perhaps the retreat of the glaciers out of the cold maritime inversion layer. Our findings suggest that using a temperature-index method that assumes constant degree-day factors may produce inaccurate long-term ablation estimates for south-east Greenland glaciers, further emphasizing the value of the rare 1933 measurements for validation of ablation models. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bent Hasholt Dirk van As Niels Tvis Knudsen |
author_facet |
Bent Hasholt Dirk van As Niels Tvis Knudsen |
author_sort |
Bent Hasholt |
title |
Historical ablation rates on south-east Greenland glaciers measured in the 1933 warm summer |
title_short |
Historical ablation rates on south-east Greenland glaciers measured in the 1933 warm summer |
title_full |
Historical ablation rates on south-east Greenland glaciers measured in the 1933 warm summer |
title_fullStr |
Historical ablation rates on south-east Greenland glaciers measured in the 1933 warm summer |
title_full_unstemmed |
Historical ablation rates on south-east Greenland glaciers measured in the 1933 warm summer |
title_sort |
historical ablation rates on south-east greenland glaciers measured in the 1933 warm summer |
publisher |
Norwegian Polar Institute |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v35.28858 https://doaj.org/article/2c0337a81b4a474795a1a830ef6565d7 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-37.637,-37.637,65.615,65.615) |
geographic |
Greenland Tasiilaq |
geographic_facet |
Greenland Tasiilaq |
genre |
East Greenland glacier Greenland Polar Research Tasiilaq Thule |
genre_facet |
East Greenland glacier Greenland Polar Research Tasiilaq Thule |
op_source |
Polar Research, Vol 35, Iss 0, Pp 1-7 (2016) |
op_relation |
http://www.polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/28858/47796 https://doaj.org/toc/1751-8369 1751-8369 doi:10.3402/polar.v35.28858 https://doaj.org/article/2c0337a81b4a474795a1a830ef6565d7 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v35.28858 |
container_title |
Polar Research |
container_volume |
35 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
28858 |
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1766399223944708096 |