Surface mass balance, ice velocity and near-surface ice temperature on Qaanaaq Ice Cap, northwestern Greenland, from 2012 to 2016
To better understand the processes controlling recent mass loss of peripheral glaciers and ice caps in northwestern Greenland, we measured surface mass balance (SMB), ice velocity and near-surface ice temperature on Qaanaaq Ice Cap in the summers of 2012–16. The measurements were performed along a s...
Published in: | Annals of Glaciology |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Cambridge University Press
2017
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2017.7 https://doaj.org/article/534716543ee24ecfb8db61e8dc689090 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:534716543ee24ecfb8db61e8dc689090 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:534716543ee24ecfb8db61e8dc689090 2023-05-15T13:29:30+02:00 Surface mass balance, ice velocity and near-surface ice temperature on Qaanaaq Ice Cap, northwestern Greenland, from 2012 to 2016 Shun Tsutaki Shin Sugiyama Daiki Sakakibara Teruo Aoki Masashi Niwano 2017-07-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2017.7 https://doaj.org/article/534716543ee24ecfb8db61e8dc689090 EN eng Cambridge University Press https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0260305517000076/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0260-3055 https://doaj.org/toc/1727-5644 doi:10.1017/aog.2017.7 0260-3055 1727-5644 https://doaj.org/article/534716543ee24ecfb8db61e8dc689090 Annals of Glaciology, Vol 58, Pp 181-192 (2017) arctic glaciology glacier flow glacier mass balance ice cap ice temperature Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 article 2017 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2017.7 2023-03-12T01:31:57Z To better understand the processes controlling recent mass loss of peripheral glaciers and ice caps in northwestern Greenland, we measured surface mass balance (SMB), ice velocity and near-surface ice temperature on Qaanaaq Ice Cap in the summers of 2012–16. The measurements were performed along a survey route spanning the terminus of an outlet glacier to the upper reaches (243–968 m a.s.l.). The ice-cap-wide SMB ranged from −1.10 ± 0.29 to −0.13 ± 0.26 m w.e. a−1 for the years from 2012/13 to 2015/16. Mass balance showed substantially large fluctuations over the study period under the influence of summer temperature and snow accumulation. Ice velocity showed seasonal speedup only in the summer of 2012, suggesting an extraordinary amount of meltwater penetrated to the bed and enhanced basal ice motion. Ice temperature at a depth of 13 m was −8.0°C at 944 m a.s.l., which was 2.5°C warmer than that at 243 m a.s.l., suggesting that ice temperature in the upper reaches was elevated by refreezing and percolation of meltwater. Our study provided in situ data from a relatively unstudied region in Greenland, and demonstrated the importance of continued monitoring of these processes for longer timespans in the future. Article in Journal/Newspaper Annals of Glaciology Arctic glacier Greenland Ice cap Qaanaaq Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Greenland Qaanaaq ENVELOPE(-69.232,-69.232,77.467,77.467) Annals of Glaciology 58 75pt2 181 192 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
arctic glaciology glacier flow glacier mass balance ice cap ice temperature Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
spellingShingle |
arctic glaciology glacier flow glacier mass balance ice cap ice temperature Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 Shun Tsutaki Shin Sugiyama Daiki Sakakibara Teruo Aoki Masashi Niwano Surface mass balance, ice velocity and near-surface ice temperature on Qaanaaq Ice Cap, northwestern Greenland, from 2012 to 2016 |
topic_facet |
arctic glaciology glacier flow glacier mass balance ice cap ice temperature Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
description |
To better understand the processes controlling recent mass loss of peripheral glaciers and ice caps in northwestern Greenland, we measured surface mass balance (SMB), ice velocity and near-surface ice temperature on Qaanaaq Ice Cap in the summers of 2012–16. The measurements were performed along a survey route spanning the terminus of an outlet glacier to the upper reaches (243–968 m a.s.l.). The ice-cap-wide SMB ranged from −1.10 ± 0.29 to −0.13 ± 0.26 m w.e. a−1 for the years from 2012/13 to 2015/16. Mass balance showed substantially large fluctuations over the study period under the influence of summer temperature and snow accumulation. Ice velocity showed seasonal speedup only in the summer of 2012, suggesting an extraordinary amount of meltwater penetrated to the bed and enhanced basal ice motion. Ice temperature at a depth of 13 m was −8.0°C at 944 m a.s.l., which was 2.5°C warmer than that at 243 m a.s.l., suggesting that ice temperature in the upper reaches was elevated by refreezing and percolation of meltwater. Our study provided in situ data from a relatively unstudied region in Greenland, and demonstrated the importance of continued monitoring of these processes for longer timespans in the future. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Shun Tsutaki Shin Sugiyama Daiki Sakakibara Teruo Aoki Masashi Niwano |
author_facet |
Shun Tsutaki Shin Sugiyama Daiki Sakakibara Teruo Aoki Masashi Niwano |
author_sort |
Shun Tsutaki |
title |
Surface mass balance, ice velocity and near-surface ice temperature on Qaanaaq Ice Cap, northwestern Greenland, from 2012 to 2016 |
title_short |
Surface mass balance, ice velocity and near-surface ice temperature on Qaanaaq Ice Cap, northwestern Greenland, from 2012 to 2016 |
title_full |
Surface mass balance, ice velocity and near-surface ice temperature on Qaanaaq Ice Cap, northwestern Greenland, from 2012 to 2016 |
title_fullStr |
Surface mass balance, ice velocity and near-surface ice temperature on Qaanaaq Ice Cap, northwestern Greenland, from 2012 to 2016 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Surface mass balance, ice velocity and near-surface ice temperature on Qaanaaq Ice Cap, northwestern Greenland, from 2012 to 2016 |
title_sort |
surface mass balance, ice velocity and near-surface ice temperature on qaanaaq ice cap, northwestern greenland, from 2012 to 2016 |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2017.7 https://doaj.org/article/534716543ee24ecfb8db61e8dc689090 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-69.232,-69.232,77.467,77.467) |
geographic |
Arctic Greenland Qaanaaq |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Greenland Qaanaaq |
genre |
Annals of Glaciology Arctic glacier Greenland Ice cap Qaanaaq |
genre_facet |
Annals of Glaciology Arctic glacier Greenland Ice cap Qaanaaq |
op_source |
Annals of Glaciology, Vol 58, Pp 181-192 (2017) |
op_relation |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0260305517000076/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0260-3055 https://doaj.org/toc/1727-5644 doi:10.1017/aog.2017.7 0260-3055 1727-5644 https://doaj.org/article/534716543ee24ecfb8db61e8dc689090 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2017.7 |
container_title |
Annals of Glaciology |
container_volume |
58 |
container_issue |
75pt2 |
container_start_page |
181 |
op_container_end_page |
192 |
_version_ |
1766001004746113024 |