Projected sea-level contributions from tidewater glaciers are highly sensitive to chosen bedrock topography: a case study at Hansbreen, Svalbard
Calculation of the calving loss of tidewater glaciers depends on accurate bedrock information. In regional to global-scale projections of future tidewater glacier evolution this dependence is problematic. Bedrock topographies are often unknown and can only be modelled from surface properties. Existi...
Published in: | Journal of Glaciology |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Cambridge University Press
2023
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2022.117 https://doaj.org/article/3abb186815b14832b8f10dfd4266b999 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:3abb186815b14832b8f10dfd4266b999 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:3abb186815b14832b8f10dfd4266b999 2023-08-20T04:04:44+02:00 Projected sea-level contributions from tidewater glaciers are highly sensitive to chosen bedrock topography: a case study at Hansbreen, Svalbard Marco Möller Francisco Navarro Matthias Huss Ben Marzeion 2023-08-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2022.117 https://doaj.org/article/3abb186815b14832b8f10dfd4266b999 EN eng Cambridge University Press https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143022001174/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0022-1430 https://doaj.org/toc/1727-5652 doi:10.1017/jog.2022.117 0022-1430 1727-5652 https://doaj.org/article/3abb186815b14832b8f10dfd4266b999 Journal of Glaciology, Vol 69, Pp 966-980 (2023) Arctic glaciology glacier calving glacier fluctuations glacier modelling Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2022.117 2023-07-30T00:36:44Z Calculation of the calving loss of tidewater glaciers depends on accurate bedrock information. In regional to global-scale projections of future tidewater glacier evolution this dependence is problematic. Bedrock topographies are often unknown and can only be modelled from surface properties. Existing approaches, however, mostly underestimate the ice thickness towards the calving fronts of marine-terminating glaciers. This implies a compromised performance of global-scale projection models which often employ functions of water depth at the calving fronts of tidewater glaciers. Here, we present a sensitivity study that analyses the impact of five different bedrock datasets on projected mass losses from the tidewater glacier Hansbreen in southern Svalbard. Our modelling study calculates the glacier's response to artificial mass-balance forcing. We show that bedrock inaccuracies may lead to a substantially deviating retreat behaviour. The common underestimation of frontal ice thickness/water depth in the modelled bedrock datasets induces an underestimation of sea level-relevant mass losses over the first several decades of modelling. The duration of this period is reduced when assuming warmer climates. Our results thus underline the importance of accurate bedrock topography data for the reliability of glacier evolution projections and for the accuracy of the temporal trajectories of related sea level-relevant mass losses. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic glacier Journal of Glaciology Svalbard Tidewater Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Hansbreen ENVELOPE(15.650,15.650,77.075,77.075) Svalbard Journal of Glaciology 1 15 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Arctic glaciology glacier calving glacier fluctuations glacier modelling Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
spellingShingle |
Arctic glaciology glacier calving glacier fluctuations glacier modelling Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 Marco Möller Francisco Navarro Matthias Huss Ben Marzeion Projected sea-level contributions from tidewater glaciers are highly sensitive to chosen bedrock topography: a case study at Hansbreen, Svalbard |
topic_facet |
Arctic glaciology glacier calving glacier fluctuations glacier modelling Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
description |
Calculation of the calving loss of tidewater glaciers depends on accurate bedrock information. In regional to global-scale projections of future tidewater glacier evolution this dependence is problematic. Bedrock topographies are often unknown and can only be modelled from surface properties. Existing approaches, however, mostly underestimate the ice thickness towards the calving fronts of marine-terminating glaciers. This implies a compromised performance of global-scale projection models which often employ functions of water depth at the calving fronts of tidewater glaciers. Here, we present a sensitivity study that analyses the impact of five different bedrock datasets on projected mass losses from the tidewater glacier Hansbreen in southern Svalbard. Our modelling study calculates the glacier's response to artificial mass-balance forcing. We show that bedrock inaccuracies may lead to a substantially deviating retreat behaviour. The common underestimation of frontal ice thickness/water depth in the modelled bedrock datasets induces an underestimation of sea level-relevant mass losses over the first several decades of modelling. The duration of this period is reduced when assuming warmer climates. Our results thus underline the importance of accurate bedrock topography data for the reliability of glacier evolution projections and for the accuracy of the temporal trajectories of related sea level-relevant mass losses. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Marco Möller Francisco Navarro Matthias Huss Ben Marzeion |
author_facet |
Marco Möller Francisco Navarro Matthias Huss Ben Marzeion |
author_sort |
Marco Möller |
title |
Projected sea-level contributions from tidewater glaciers are highly sensitive to chosen bedrock topography: a case study at Hansbreen, Svalbard |
title_short |
Projected sea-level contributions from tidewater glaciers are highly sensitive to chosen bedrock topography: a case study at Hansbreen, Svalbard |
title_full |
Projected sea-level contributions from tidewater glaciers are highly sensitive to chosen bedrock topography: a case study at Hansbreen, Svalbard |
title_fullStr |
Projected sea-level contributions from tidewater glaciers are highly sensitive to chosen bedrock topography: a case study at Hansbreen, Svalbard |
title_full_unstemmed |
Projected sea-level contributions from tidewater glaciers are highly sensitive to chosen bedrock topography: a case study at Hansbreen, Svalbard |
title_sort |
projected sea-level contributions from tidewater glaciers are highly sensitive to chosen bedrock topography: a case study at hansbreen, svalbard |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2022.117 https://doaj.org/article/3abb186815b14832b8f10dfd4266b999 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(15.650,15.650,77.075,77.075) |
geographic |
Arctic Hansbreen Svalbard |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Hansbreen Svalbard |
genre |
Arctic glacier Journal of Glaciology Svalbard Tidewater |
genre_facet |
Arctic glacier Journal of Glaciology Svalbard Tidewater |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology, Vol 69, Pp 966-980 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143022001174/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0022-1430 https://doaj.org/toc/1727-5652 doi:10.1017/jog.2022.117 0022-1430 1727-5652 https://doaj.org/article/3abb186815b14832b8f10dfd4266b999 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2022.117 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_start_page |
1 |
op_container_end_page |
15 |
_version_ |
1774715121023582208 |