Formation, flow and break-up of ephemeral ice mélange at LeConte Glacier and Bay, Alaska
Ice mélange has been postulated to impact glacier and fjord dynamics through a variety of mechanical and thermodynamic couplings. However, observations of these interactions are very limited. Here, we report on glaciological and oceanographic data that were collected from 2016 to 2017 at LeConte Gla...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:a6957052ff05490297aae7e9a9423256 2023-05-15T16:20:21+02:00 Formation, flow and break-up of ephemeral ice mélange at LeConte Glacier and Bay, Alaska Jason M. Amundson Christian Kienholz Alexander O. Hager Rebecca H. Jackson Roman J. Motyka Jonathan D. Nash David A. Sutherland 2020-08-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.29 https://doaj.org/article/a6957052ff05490297aae7e9a9423256 EN eng Cambridge University Press https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143020000295/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0022-1430 https://doaj.org/toc/1727-5652 doi:10.1017/jog.2020.29 0022-1430 1727-5652 https://doaj.org/article/a6957052ff05490297aae7e9a9423256 Journal of Glaciology, Vol 66, Pp 577-590 (2020) Calving ice/ocean interactions icebergs Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 article 2020 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.29 2023-03-12T01:30:57Z Ice mélange has been postulated to impact glacier and fjord dynamics through a variety of mechanical and thermodynamic couplings. However, observations of these interactions are very limited. Here, we report on glaciological and oceanographic data that were collected from 2016 to 2017 at LeConte Glacier and Bay, Alaska, and serendipitously captured the formation, flow and break-up of ephemeral ice mélange. Sea ice formed overnight in mid-February. Over the subsequent week, the sea ice and icebergs were compacted by the advancing glacier terminus, after which the ice mélange flowed quasi-statically. The presence of ice mélange coincided with the lowest glacier velocities and frontal ablation rates in our record. In early April, increasing glacier runoff and the formation of a sub-ice-mélange plume began to melt and pull apart the ice mélange. The plume, outgoing tides and large calving events contributed to its break-up, which took place over a week and occurred in pulses. Unlike observations from elsewhere, the loss of ice mélange integrity did not coincide with the onset of seasonal glacier retreat. Our observations provide a challenge to ice mélange models aimed at quantifying the mechanical and thermodynamic couplings between ice mélange, glaciers and fjords. Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier glaciers Journal of Glaciology Sea ice Alaska Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Journal of Glaciology 66 258 577 590 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Calving ice/ocean interactions icebergs Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
spellingShingle |
Calving ice/ocean interactions icebergs Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 Jason M. Amundson Christian Kienholz Alexander O. Hager Rebecca H. Jackson Roman J. Motyka Jonathan D. Nash David A. Sutherland Formation, flow and break-up of ephemeral ice mélange at LeConte Glacier and Bay, Alaska |
topic_facet |
Calving ice/ocean interactions icebergs Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
description |
Ice mélange has been postulated to impact glacier and fjord dynamics through a variety of mechanical and thermodynamic couplings. However, observations of these interactions are very limited. Here, we report on glaciological and oceanographic data that were collected from 2016 to 2017 at LeConte Glacier and Bay, Alaska, and serendipitously captured the formation, flow and break-up of ephemeral ice mélange. Sea ice formed overnight in mid-February. Over the subsequent week, the sea ice and icebergs were compacted by the advancing glacier terminus, after which the ice mélange flowed quasi-statically. The presence of ice mélange coincided with the lowest glacier velocities and frontal ablation rates in our record. In early April, increasing glacier runoff and the formation of a sub-ice-mélange plume began to melt and pull apart the ice mélange. The plume, outgoing tides and large calving events contributed to its break-up, which took place over a week and occurred in pulses. Unlike observations from elsewhere, the loss of ice mélange integrity did not coincide with the onset of seasonal glacier retreat. Our observations provide a challenge to ice mélange models aimed at quantifying the mechanical and thermodynamic couplings between ice mélange, glaciers and fjords. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jason M. Amundson Christian Kienholz Alexander O. Hager Rebecca H. Jackson Roman J. Motyka Jonathan D. Nash David A. Sutherland |
author_facet |
Jason M. Amundson Christian Kienholz Alexander O. Hager Rebecca H. Jackson Roman J. Motyka Jonathan D. Nash David A. Sutherland |
author_sort |
Jason M. Amundson |
title |
Formation, flow and break-up of ephemeral ice mélange at LeConte Glacier and Bay, Alaska |
title_short |
Formation, flow and break-up of ephemeral ice mélange at LeConte Glacier and Bay, Alaska |
title_full |
Formation, flow and break-up of ephemeral ice mélange at LeConte Glacier and Bay, Alaska |
title_fullStr |
Formation, flow and break-up of ephemeral ice mélange at LeConte Glacier and Bay, Alaska |
title_full_unstemmed |
Formation, flow and break-up of ephemeral ice mélange at LeConte Glacier and Bay, Alaska |
title_sort |
formation, flow and break-up of ephemeral ice mélange at leconte glacier and bay, alaska |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.29 https://doaj.org/article/a6957052ff05490297aae7e9a9423256 |
genre |
glacier glaciers Journal of Glaciology Sea ice Alaska |
genre_facet |
glacier glaciers Journal of Glaciology Sea ice Alaska |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology, Vol 66, Pp 577-590 (2020) |
op_relation |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143020000295/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0022-1430 https://doaj.org/toc/1727-5652 doi:10.1017/jog.2020.29 0022-1430 1727-5652 https://doaj.org/article/a6957052ff05490297aae7e9a9423256 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.29 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_volume |
66 |
container_issue |
258 |
container_start_page |
577 |
op_container_end_page |
590 |
_version_ |
1766008253128376320 |