Modeling the Controls on the Front Position of a Tidewater Glacier in Svalbard
Calving is an important mass-loss process at ice sheet and marine-terminating glacier margins, but identifying and quantifying its principal driving mechanisms remains challenging. Hansbreen is a grounded tidewater glacier in southern Spitsbergen, Svalbard, with a rich history of field and remote se...
Published in: | Frontiers in Earth Science |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2017
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2017.00029 https://doaj.org/article/dbc8055cd9f045bbaf2bc2e881d5d808 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:dbc8055cd9f045bbaf2bc2e881d5d808 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:dbc8055cd9f045bbaf2bc2e881d5d808 2023-05-15T16:22:08+02:00 Modeling the Controls on the Front Position of a Tidewater Glacier in Svalbard Jaime Otero Francisco J. Navarro Javier J. Lapazaran Ethan Welty Darek Puczko Roman Finkelnburg 2017-04-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2017.00029 https://doaj.org/article/dbc8055cd9f045bbaf2bc2e881d5d808 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/feart.2017.00029/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-6463 2296-6463 doi:10.3389/feart.2017.00029 https://doaj.org/article/dbc8055cd9f045bbaf2bc2e881d5d808 Frontiers in Earth Science, Vol 5 (2017) tidewater glacier Hansbreen Svalbard calving terminus position modeling Science Q article 2017 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2017.00029 2022-12-30T21:24:55Z Calving is an important mass-loss process at ice sheet and marine-terminating glacier margins, but identifying and quantifying its principal driving mechanisms remains challenging. Hansbreen is a grounded tidewater glacier in southern Spitsbergen, Svalbard, with a rich history of field and remote sensing observations. The available data make this glacier suitable for evaluating mechanisms and controls on calving, some of which are considered in this paper. We use a full-Stokes thermomechanical 2D flow model (Elmer/Ice), paired with a crevasse-depth calving criterion, to estimate Hansbreen's front position at a weekly time resolution. The basal sliding coefficient is re-calibrated every 4 weeks by solving an inverse model. We investigate the possible role of backpressure at the front (a function of ice mélange concentration) and the depth of water filling crevasses by examining the model's ability to reproduce the observed seasonal cycles of terminus advance and retreat. Our results suggest that the ice-mélange pressure plays an important role in the seasonal advance and retreat of the ice front, and that the crevasse-depth calving criterion, when driven by modeled surface meltwater, closely replicates observed variations in terminus position. These results suggest that tidewater glacier behavior is influenced by both oceanic and atmospheric processes, and that neither of them should be ignored. Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier Ice Sheet Svalbard Tidewater Spitsbergen Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Hansbreen ENVELOPE(15.650,15.650,77.075,77.075) Svalbard Frontiers in Earth Science 5 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
tidewater glacier Hansbreen Svalbard calving terminus position modeling Science Q |
spellingShingle |
tidewater glacier Hansbreen Svalbard calving terminus position modeling Science Q Jaime Otero Francisco J. Navarro Javier J. Lapazaran Ethan Welty Darek Puczko Roman Finkelnburg Modeling the Controls on the Front Position of a Tidewater Glacier in Svalbard |
topic_facet |
tidewater glacier Hansbreen Svalbard calving terminus position modeling Science Q |
description |
Calving is an important mass-loss process at ice sheet and marine-terminating glacier margins, but identifying and quantifying its principal driving mechanisms remains challenging. Hansbreen is a grounded tidewater glacier in southern Spitsbergen, Svalbard, with a rich history of field and remote sensing observations. The available data make this glacier suitable for evaluating mechanisms and controls on calving, some of which are considered in this paper. We use a full-Stokes thermomechanical 2D flow model (Elmer/Ice), paired with a crevasse-depth calving criterion, to estimate Hansbreen's front position at a weekly time resolution. The basal sliding coefficient is re-calibrated every 4 weeks by solving an inverse model. We investigate the possible role of backpressure at the front (a function of ice mélange concentration) and the depth of water filling crevasses by examining the model's ability to reproduce the observed seasonal cycles of terminus advance and retreat. Our results suggest that the ice-mélange pressure plays an important role in the seasonal advance and retreat of the ice front, and that the crevasse-depth calving criterion, when driven by modeled surface meltwater, closely replicates observed variations in terminus position. These results suggest that tidewater glacier behavior is influenced by both oceanic and atmospheric processes, and that neither of them should be ignored. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jaime Otero Francisco J. Navarro Javier J. Lapazaran Ethan Welty Darek Puczko Roman Finkelnburg |
author_facet |
Jaime Otero Francisco J. Navarro Javier J. Lapazaran Ethan Welty Darek Puczko Roman Finkelnburg |
author_sort |
Jaime Otero |
title |
Modeling the Controls on the Front Position of a Tidewater Glacier in Svalbard |
title_short |
Modeling the Controls on the Front Position of a Tidewater Glacier in Svalbard |
title_full |
Modeling the Controls on the Front Position of a Tidewater Glacier in Svalbard |
title_fullStr |
Modeling the Controls on the Front Position of a Tidewater Glacier in Svalbard |
title_full_unstemmed |
Modeling the Controls on the Front Position of a Tidewater Glacier in Svalbard |
title_sort |
modeling the controls on the front position of a tidewater glacier in svalbard |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2017.00029 https://doaj.org/article/dbc8055cd9f045bbaf2bc2e881d5d808 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(15.650,15.650,77.075,77.075) |
geographic |
Hansbreen Svalbard |
geographic_facet |
Hansbreen Svalbard |
genre |
glacier Ice Sheet Svalbard Tidewater Spitsbergen |
genre_facet |
glacier Ice Sheet Svalbard Tidewater Spitsbergen |
op_source |
Frontiers in Earth Science, Vol 5 (2017) |
op_relation |
http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/feart.2017.00029/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-6463 2296-6463 doi:10.3389/feart.2017.00029 https://doaj.org/article/dbc8055cd9f045bbaf2bc2e881d5d808 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2017.00029 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Earth Science |
container_volume |
5 |
_version_ |
1766010103903813632 |