Sensitivity of subglacial drainage to water supply distribution at the Kongsfjord basin, Svalbard
By regulating the amount, the timing, and the location of meltwater supply to the glacier bed, supraglacial hydrology potentially exerts a major control on the evolution of the subglacial drainage system, which in turn modulates ice velocity. Yet the configuration of the supraglacial hydrological sy...
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Copernicus Publications
2021
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:9db6ff133dce41be9eedad1ed5839575 2023-05-15T16:22:09+02:00 Sensitivity of subglacial drainage to water supply distribution at the Kongsfjord basin, Svalbard C. Scholzen T. V. Schuler A. Gilbert 2021-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2719-2021 https://doaj.org/article/9db6ff133dce41be9eedad1ed5839575 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/2719/2021/tc-15-2719-2021.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-15-2719-2021 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/9db6ff133dce41be9eedad1ed5839575 The Cryosphere, Vol 15, Pp 2719-2738 (2021) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2719-2021 2022-12-31T06:06:50Z By regulating the amount, the timing, and the location of meltwater supply to the glacier bed, supraglacial hydrology potentially exerts a major control on the evolution of the subglacial drainage system, which in turn modulates ice velocity. Yet the configuration of the supraglacial hydrological system has received only little attention in numerical models of subglacial hydrology so far. Here we apply the two-dimensional subglacial hydrology model GlaDS (Glacier Drainage System model) to a Svalbard glacier basin with the aim of investigating how the spatial distribution of meltwater recharge affects the characteristics of the basal drainage system. We design four experiments with various degrees of complexity in the way that meltwater is delivered to the subglacial drainage model. Our results show significant differences between experiments in the early summer transition from distributed to channelized drainage, with discrete recharge at moulins favouring channelization at higher elevations and driving overall lower water pressures. Otherwise, we find that water input configuration only poorly influences subglacial hydrology, which instead is controlled primarily by subglacial topography. All experiments fail to develop channels of sufficient efficiency to substantially reduce summertime water pressures, which we attribute to small surface gradients and short melt seasons. The findings of our study are potentially applicable to most Svalbard tidewater glaciers with similar topography and low meltwater recharge. The absence of efficient channelization implies that the dynamics of tidewater glaciers in the Svalbard archipelago may be sensitive to future long-term trends in meltwater supply. Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier Kongsfjord* Svalbard The Cryosphere Tidewater Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Svalbard Svalbard Archipelago Kongsfjord ENVELOPE(29.319,29.319,70.721,70.721) The Cryosphere 15 6 2719 2738 |
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 C. Scholzen T. V. Schuler A. Gilbert Sensitivity of subglacial drainage to water supply distribution at the Kongsfjord basin, Svalbard |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
By regulating the amount, the timing, and the location of meltwater supply to the glacier bed, supraglacial hydrology potentially exerts a major control on the evolution of the subglacial drainage system, which in turn modulates ice velocity. Yet the configuration of the supraglacial hydrological system has received only little attention in numerical models of subglacial hydrology so far. Here we apply the two-dimensional subglacial hydrology model GlaDS (Glacier Drainage System model) to a Svalbard glacier basin with the aim of investigating how the spatial distribution of meltwater recharge affects the characteristics of the basal drainage system. We design four experiments with various degrees of complexity in the way that meltwater is delivered to the subglacial drainage model. Our results show significant differences between experiments in the early summer transition from distributed to channelized drainage, with discrete recharge at moulins favouring channelization at higher elevations and driving overall lower water pressures. Otherwise, we find that water input configuration only poorly influences subglacial hydrology, which instead is controlled primarily by subglacial topography. All experiments fail to develop channels of sufficient efficiency to substantially reduce summertime water pressures, which we attribute to small surface gradients and short melt seasons. The findings of our study are potentially applicable to most Svalbard tidewater glaciers with similar topography and low meltwater recharge. The absence of efficient channelization implies that the dynamics of tidewater glaciers in the Svalbard archipelago may be sensitive to future long-term trends in meltwater supply. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
C. Scholzen T. V. Schuler A. Gilbert |
author_facet |
C. Scholzen T. V. Schuler A. Gilbert |
author_sort |
C. Scholzen |
title |
Sensitivity of subglacial drainage to water supply distribution at the Kongsfjord basin, Svalbard |
title_short |
Sensitivity of subglacial drainage to water supply distribution at the Kongsfjord basin, Svalbard |
title_full |
Sensitivity of subglacial drainage to water supply distribution at the Kongsfjord basin, Svalbard |
title_fullStr |
Sensitivity of subglacial drainage to water supply distribution at the Kongsfjord basin, Svalbard |
title_full_unstemmed |
Sensitivity of subglacial drainage to water supply distribution at the Kongsfjord basin, Svalbard |
title_sort |
sensitivity of subglacial drainage to water supply distribution at the kongsfjord basin, svalbard |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2719-2021 https://doaj.org/article/9db6ff133dce41be9eedad1ed5839575 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(29.319,29.319,70.721,70.721) |
geographic |
Svalbard Svalbard Archipelago Kongsfjord |
geographic_facet |
Svalbard Svalbard Archipelago Kongsfjord |
genre |
glacier Kongsfjord* Svalbard The Cryosphere Tidewater |
genre_facet |
glacier Kongsfjord* Svalbard The Cryosphere Tidewater |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 15, Pp 2719-2738 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/2719/2021/tc-15-2719-2021.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-15-2719-2021 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/9db6ff133dce41be9eedad1ed5839575 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2719-2021 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
15 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
2719 |
op_container_end_page |
2738 |
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1766010130395037696 |