Increasing mass loss from Greenland's Mittivakkat Gletscher
Warming in the Arctic during the past several decades has caused glaciers to thin and retreat, and recent mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet is well documented. Local glaciers peripheral to the ice sheet are also retreating, but few mass-balance observations are available to quantify that retrea...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:baa8e8c5af6845549f5072baf1b4e6e9 2023-05-15T15:08:30+02:00 Increasing mass loss from Greenland's Mittivakkat Gletscher S. H. Mernild N. T. Knudsen W. H. Lipscomb J. C. Yde J. K. Malmros B. Hasholt B. H. Jakobsen 2011-04-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-5-341-2011 https://doaj.org/article/baa8e8c5af6845549f5072baf1b4e6e9 EN eng Copernicus Publications http://www.the-cryosphere.net/5/341/2011/tc-5-341-2011.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-5-341-2011 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/baa8e8c5af6845549f5072baf1b4e6e9 The Cryosphere, Vol 5, Iss 2, Pp 341-348 (2011) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2011 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-5-341-2011 2022-12-30T22:00:50Z Warming in the Arctic during the past several decades has caused glaciers to thin and retreat, and recent mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet is well documented. Local glaciers peripheral to the ice sheet are also retreating, but few mass-balance observations are available to quantify that retreat and determine the extent to which these glaciers are out of equilibrium with present-day climate. Here, we document record mass loss in 2009/10 for the Mittivakkat Gletscher (henceforth MG), the only local glacier in Greenland for which there exist long-term observations of both the surface mass balance and glacier front fluctuations. We attribute this mass loss primarily to record high mean summer (June–August) temperatures in combination with lower-than-average winter precipitation. Also, we use the 15-yr mass-balance record to estimate present-day and equilibrium accumulation-area ratios for the MG. We show that the glacier is significantly out of balance and will likely lose at least 70% of its current area and 80% of its volume even in the absence of further climate changes. Temperature records from coastal stations in Southeast Greenland suggest that recent MG mass losses are not merely a local phenomenon, but are indicative of glacier changes in the broader region. Mass-balance observations for the MG therefore provide unique documentation of the general retreat of Southeast Greenland's local glaciers under ongoing climate warming. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic glacier Greenland Ice Sheet The Cryosphere Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Greenland The Cryosphere 5 2 341 348 |
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 S. H. Mernild N. T. Knudsen W. H. Lipscomb J. C. Yde J. K. Malmros B. Hasholt B. H. Jakobsen Increasing mass loss from Greenland's Mittivakkat Gletscher |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Warming in the Arctic during the past several decades has caused glaciers to thin and retreat, and recent mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet is well documented. Local glaciers peripheral to the ice sheet are also retreating, but few mass-balance observations are available to quantify that retreat and determine the extent to which these glaciers are out of equilibrium with present-day climate. Here, we document record mass loss in 2009/10 for the Mittivakkat Gletscher (henceforth MG), the only local glacier in Greenland for which there exist long-term observations of both the surface mass balance and glacier front fluctuations. We attribute this mass loss primarily to record high mean summer (June–August) temperatures in combination with lower-than-average winter precipitation. Also, we use the 15-yr mass-balance record to estimate present-day and equilibrium accumulation-area ratios for the MG. We show that the glacier is significantly out of balance and will likely lose at least 70% of its current area and 80% of its volume even in the absence of further climate changes. Temperature records from coastal stations in Southeast Greenland suggest that recent MG mass losses are not merely a local phenomenon, but are indicative of glacier changes in the broader region. Mass-balance observations for the MG therefore provide unique documentation of the general retreat of Southeast Greenland's local glaciers under ongoing climate warming. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
S. H. Mernild N. T. Knudsen W. H. Lipscomb J. C. Yde J. K. Malmros B. Hasholt B. H. Jakobsen |
author_facet |
S. H. Mernild N. T. Knudsen W. H. Lipscomb J. C. Yde J. K. Malmros B. Hasholt B. H. Jakobsen |
author_sort |
S. H. Mernild |
title |
Increasing mass loss from Greenland's Mittivakkat Gletscher |
title_short |
Increasing mass loss from Greenland's Mittivakkat Gletscher |
title_full |
Increasing mass loss from Greenland's Mittivakkat Gletscher |
title_fullStr |
Increasing mass loss from Greenland's Mittivakkat Gletscher |
title_full_unstemmed |
Increasing mass loss from Greenland's Mittivakkat Gletscher |
title_sort |
increasing mass loss from greenland's mittivakkat gletscher |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-5-341-2011 https://doaj.org/article/baa8e8c5af6845549f5072baf1b4e6e9 |
geographic |
Arctic Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Greenland |
genre |
Arctic glacier Greenland Ice Sheet The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
Arctic glacier Greenland Ice Sheet The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 5, Iss 2, Pp 341-348 (2011) |
op_relation |
http://www.the-cryosphere.net/5/341/2011/tc-5-341-2011.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-5-341-2011 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/baa8e8c5af6845549f5072baf1b4e6e9 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-5-341-2011 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
5 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
341 |
op_container_end_page |
348 |
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1766339856175202304 |