On the recent contribution of the Greenland ice sheet to sea level change
We assess the recent contribution of the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) to sea level change. We use the mass budget method, which quantifies ice sheet mass balance (MB) as the difference between surface mass balance (SMB) and solid ice discharge across the grounding line ( D ). A comparison with indepen...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:3e8e568bd801462a8cb047c950c59304 2023-05-15T16:28:29+02:00 On the recent contribution of the Greenland ice sheet to sea level change M. R. van den Broeke E. M. Enderlin I. M. Howat P. Kuipers Munneke B. P. Y. Noël W. J. van de Berg E. van Meijgaard B. Wouters 2016-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1933-2016 https://doaj.org/article/3e8e568bd801462a8cb047c950c59304 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://www.the-cryosphere.net/10/1933/2016/tc-10-1933-2016.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-10-1933-2016 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/3e8e568bd801462a8cb047c950c59304 The Cryosphere, Vol 10, Pp 1933-1946 (2016) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2016 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1933-2016 2022-12-31T14:57:19Z We assess the recent contribution of the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) to sea level change. We use the mass budget method, which quantifies ice sheet mass balance (MB) as the difference between surface mass balance (SMB) and solid ice discharge across the grounding line ( D ). A comparison with independent gravity change observations from GRACE shows good agreement for the overlapping period 2002–2015, giving confidence in the partitioning of recent GrIS mass changes. The estimated 1995 value of D and the 1958–1995 average value of SMB are similar at 411 and 418 Gt yr −1 , respectively, suggesting that ice flow in the mid-1990s was well adjusted to the average annual mass input, reminiscent of an ice sheet in approximate balance. Starting in the early to mid-1990s, SMB decreased while D increased, leading to quasi-persistent negative MB. About 60 % of the associated mass loss since 1991 is caused by changes in SMB and the remainder by D . The decrease in SMB is fully driven by an increase in surface melt and subsequent meltwater runoff, which is slightly compensated by a small ( < 3 %) increase in snowfall. The excess runoff originates from low-lying ( < 2000 m a.s.l.) parts of the ice sheet; higher up, increased refreezing prevents runoff of meltwater from occurring, at the expense of increased firn temperatures and depleted pore space. With a 1991–2015 average annual mass loss of ∼ 0.47 ± 0.23 mm sea level equivalent (SLE) and a peak contribution of 1.2 mm SLE in 2012, the GrIS has recently become a major source of global mean sea level rise. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Ice Sheet The Cryosphere Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Greenland The Cryosphere 10 5 1933 1946 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 M. R. van den Broeke E. M. Enderlin I. M. Howat P. Kuipers Munneke B. P. Y. Noël W. J. van de Berg E. van Meijgaard B. Wouters On the recent contribution of the Greenland ice sheet to sea level change |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
We assess the recent contribution of the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) to sea level change. We use the mass budget method, which quantifies ice sheet mass balance (MB) as the difference between surface mass balance (SMB) and solid ice discharge across the grounding line ( D ). A comparison with independent gravity change observations from GRACE shows good agreement for the overlapping period 2002–2015, giving confidence in the partitioning of recent GrIS mass changes. The estimated 1995 value of D and the 1958–1995 average value of SMB are similar at 411 and 418 Gt yr −1 , respectively, suggesting that ice flow in the mid-1990s was well adjusted to the average annual mass input, reminiscent of an ice sheet in approximate balance. Starting in the early to mid-1990s, SMB decreased while D increased, leading to quasi-persistent negative MB. About 60 % of the associated mass loss since 1991 is caused by changes in SMB and the remainder by D . The decrease in SMB is fully driven by an increase in surface melt and subsequent meltwater runoff, which is slightly compensated by a small ( < 3 %) increase in snowfall. The excess runoff originates from low-lying ( < 2000 m a.s.l.) parts of the ice sheet; higher up, increased refreezing prevents runoff of meltwater from occurring, at the expense of increased firn temperatures and depleted pore space. With a 1991–2015 average annual mass loss of ∼ 0.47 ± 0.23 mm sea level equivalent (SLE) and a peak contribution of 1.2 mm SLE in 2012, the GrIS has recently become a major source of global mean sea level rise. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
M. R. van den Broeke E. M. Enderlin I. M. Howat P. Kuipers Munneke B. P. Y. Noël W. J. van de Berg E. van Meijgaard B. Wouters |
author_facet |
M. R. van den Broeke E. M. Enderlin I. M. Howat P. Kuipers Munneke B. P. Y. Noël W. J. van de Berg E. van Meijgaard B. Wouters |
author_sort |
M. R. van den Broeke |
title |
On the recent contribution of the Greenland ice sheet to sea level change |
title_short |
On the recent contribution of the Greenland ice sheet to sea level change |
title_full |
On the recent contribution of the Greenland ice sheet to sea level change |
title_fullStr |
On the recent contribution of the Greenland ice sheet to sea level change |
title_full_unstemmed |
On the recent contribution of the Greenland ice sheet to sea level change |
title_sort |
on the recent contribution of the greenland ice sheet to sea level change |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1933-2016 https://doaj.org/article/3e8e568bd801462a8cb047c950c59304 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Greenland Ice Sheet The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
Greenland Ice Sheet The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 10, Pp 1933-1946 (2016) |
op_relation |
https://www.the-cryosphere.net/10/1933/2016/tc-10-1933-2016.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-10-1933-2016 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/3e8e568bd801462a8cb047c950c59304 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1933-2016 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
1933 |
op_container_end_page |
1946 |
_version_ |
1766018133163769856 |