Estimating Spring Terminus Submarine Melt Rates at a Greenlandic Tidewater Glacier Using Satellite Imagery
Oceanic forcing of the Greenland Ice Sheet is believed to promote widespread thinning at tidewater glaciers, with submarine melting proposed as a potential trigger of increased glacier calving, retreat, and subsequent acceleration. The precise mechanism(s) driving glacier instability, however, remai...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:7bcd47a0637f48acb2a98914236b8ee8 2023-05-15T16:21:08+02:00 Estimating Spring Terminus Submarine Melt Rates at a Greenlandic Tidewater Glacier Using Satellite Imagery Alexis N. Moyer Peter W. Nienow Noel Gourmelen Andrew J. Sole Donald A. Slater 2017-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2017.00107 https://doaj.org/article/7bcd47a0637f48acb2a98914236b8ee8 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/feart.2017.00107/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-6463 2296-6463 doi:10.3389/feart.2017.00107 https://doaj.org/article/7bcd47a0637f48acb2a98914236b8ee8 Frontiers in Earth Science, Vol 5 (2017) submarine melt ice/ocean interactions tidewater glaciers remote sensing TanDEM-X Science Q article 2017 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2017.00107 2022-12-30T23:54:25Z Oceanic forcing of the Greenland Ice Sheet is believed to promote widespread thinning at tidewater glaciers, with submarine melting proposed as a potential trigger of increased glacier calving, retreat, and subsequent acceleration. The precise mechanism(s) driving glacier instability, however, remain poorly understood, and while increasing evidence points to the importance of submarine melting, estimates of melt rates are uncertain. Here we estimate submarine melt rate by examining freeboard changes in the seasonal ice tongue of Kangiata Nunaata Sermia (KNS) at the head of Kangersuneq Fjord (KF), southwest Greenland. We calculate melt rates for March and May 2013 by differencing along-fjord surface elevation, derived from high-resolution TanDEM-X digital elevation models (DEMs), in combination with ice velocities derived from offset tracking applied to TerraSAR-X imagery. Estimated steady state melt rates reach up to 1.4 ± 0.5 m d−1 near the glacier grounding line, with mean values of up to 0.8 ± 0.3 and 0.7 ± 0.3 m d−1 for the eastern and western parts of the ice tongue, respectively. Melt rates decrease with distance from the ice front and vary across the fjord. This methodology reveals spatio-temporal variations in submarine melt rates (SMRs) at tidewater glaciers which develop floating termini, and can be used to improve our understanding of ice-ocean interactions and submarine melting in glacial fjords. Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier Greenland greenlandic Ice Sheet Tidewater Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Greenland Frontiers in Earth Science 5 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
submarine melt ice/ocean interactions tidewater glaciers remote sensing TanDEM-X Science Q |
spellingShingle |
submarine melt ice/ocean interactions tidewater glaciers remote sensing TanDEM-X Science Q Alexis N. Moyer Peter W. Nienow Noel Gourmelen Andrew J. Sole Donald A. Slater Estimating Spring Terminus Submarine Melt Rates at a Greenlandic Tidewater Glacier Using Satellite Imagery |
topic_facet |
submarine melt ice/ocean interactions tidewater glaciers remote sensing TanDEM-X Science Q |
description |
Oceanic forcing of the Greenland Ice Sheet is believed to promote widespread thinning at tidewater glaciers, with submarine melting proposed as a potential trigger of increased glacier calving, retreat, and subsequent acceleration. The precise mechanism(s) driving glacier instability, however, remain poorly understood, and while increasing evidence points to the importance of submarine melting, estimates of melt rates are uncertain. Here we estimate submarine melt rate by examining freeboard changes in the seasonal ice tongue of Kangiata Nunaata Sermia (KNS) at the head of Kangersuneq Fjord (KF), southwest Greenland. We calculate melt rates for March and May 2013 by differencing along-fjord surface elevation, derived from high-resolution TanDEM-X digital elevation models (DEMs), in combination with ice velocities derived from offset tracking applied to TerraSAR-X imagery. Estimated steady state melt rates reach up to 1.4 ± 0.5 m d−1 near the glacier grounding line, with mean values of up to 0.8 ± 0.3 and 0.7 ± 0.3 m d−1 for the eastern and western parts of the ice tongue, respectively. Melt rates decrease with distance from the ice front and vary across the fjord. This methodology reveals spatio-temporal variations in submarine melt rates (SMRs) at tidewater glaciers which develop floating termini, and can be used to improve our understanding of ice-ocean interactions and submarine melting in glacial fjords. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Alexis N. Moyer Peter W. Nienow Noel Gourmelen Andrew J. Sole Donald A. Slater |
author_facet |
Alexis N. Moyer Peter W. Nienow Noel Gourmelen Andrew J. Sole Donald A. Slater |
author_sort |
Alexis N. Moyer |
title |
Estimating Spring Terminus Submarine Melt Rates at a Greenlandic Tidewater Glacier Using Satellite Imagery |
title_short |
Estimating Spring Terminus Submarine Melt Rates at a Greenlandic Tidewater Glacier Using Satellite Imagery |
title_full |
Estimating Spring Terminus Submarine Melt Rates at a Greenlandic Tidewater Glacier Using Satellite Imagery |
title_fullStr |
Estimating Spring Terminus Submarine Melt Rates at a Greenlandic Tidewater Glacier Using Satellite Imagery |
title_full_unstemmed |
Estimating Spring Terminus Submarine Melt Rates at a Greenlandic Tidewater Glacier Using Satellite Imagery |
title_sort |
estimating spring terminus submarine melt rates at a greenlandic tidewater glacier using satellite imagery |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2017.00107 https://doaj.org/article/7bcd47a0637f48acb2a98914236b8ee8 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
glacier Greenland greenlandic Ice Sheet Tidewater |
genre_facet |
glacier Greenland greenlandic Ice Sheet Tidewater |
op_source |
Frontiers in Earth Science, Vol 5 (2017) |
op_relation |
http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/feart.2017.00107/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-6463 2296-6463 doi:10.3389/feart.2017.00107 https://doaj.org/article/7bcd47a0637f48acb2a98914236b8ee8 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2017.00107 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Earth Science |
container_volume |
5 |
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1766009155744694272 |