A Major Collapse of Kangerlussuaq Glacier's Ice Tongue Between 1932 and 1933 in East Greenland

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: Flor Vermassen, Anders A. Bjørk, Marie‐Alexandrine Sicre, John M. Jaeger, David J. Wangner, Kristian K. Kjeldsen, Marie‐Louise Siggaard‐Andersen, Vincent Klein, Jeremie Mouginot, Kurt H. Kjær, Camilla S. Andresen
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2020
• Subjects: Kangerlussuaq Glacier; Glacier retreat; alkenones; IRD; historical documents; Geophysics. Cosmic physics; QC801-809; East Greenland; glacier; Greenland; Kangerlussuaq; North Greenland
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL085954; https://doaj.org/article/3699d63015304c9d8ba17c36665273a1

Abstract In recent years, several large outlet glaciers in Greenland lost their floating ice tongue, yet little is known regarding their stability over a longer timescale. Here we compile historical documents to demonstrate a major ice tongue collapse of Kangerlussuaq Glacier between 1932 and 1933. This event resulted in a 9‐km retreat, exceeding any of the glacier's recent major retreat events. Sediment cores from the fjord are used to reconstruct sea surface temperatures and to investigate a potential sedimentological trace of the collapse. During the 1920s, local and regional sea surface temperatures and air temperatures increased rapidly, suggesting a climatic trigger for the collapse. Fjord bathymetry played an important role too, as the (partially) pinned ice tongue retreated off a submarine moraine during the event. This historical analogue of a glacier tongue collapse emphasizes the fragility of remaining ice tongues in North Greenland within a warming climate.