Controls on the transport of oceanic heat to Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier, East Greenland
Greenland's marine-terminating glaciers may be sensitive to oceanic heat, but the fjord processes controlling delivery of this heat to glacier termini remain poorly constrained. Here we use a three-dimensional numerical model of Kangerdlugssuaq Fjord, East Greenland, to examine controls on fjor...
Published in: | Journal of Glaciology |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Cambridge University Press
2016
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2016.117 https://doaj.org/article/e030079df73d4de6bba25eaba26306f1 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:e030079df73d4de6bba25eaba26306f1 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:e030079df73d4de6bba25eaba26306f1 2023-05-15T15:08:17+02:00 Controls on the transport of oceanic heat to Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier, East Greenland TOM COWTON ANDREW SOLE PETER NIENOW DONALD SLATER DAVID WILTON EDWARD HANNA 2016-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2016.117 https://doaj.org/article/e030079df73d4de6bba25eaba26306f1 EN eng Cambridge University Press https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143016001179/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0022-1430 https://doaj.org/toc/1727-5652 doi:10.1017/jog.2016.117 0022-1430 1727-5652 https://doaj.org/article/e030079df73d4de6bba25eaba26306f1 Journal of Glaciology, Vol 62, Pp 1167-1180 (2016) arctic glaciology calving glacier discharge ice/ocean interactions Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 article 2016 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2016.117 2023-03-12T01:30:59Z Greenland's marine-terminating glaciers may be sensitive to oceanic heat, but the fjord processes controlling delivery of this heat to glacier termini remain poorly constrained. Here we use a three-dimensional numerical model of Kangerdlugssuaq Fjord, East Greenland, to examine controls on fjord/shelf exchange. We find that shelf-forced intermediary circulation can replace up to ~25% of the fjord volume with shelf waters within 10 d, while buoyancy-driven circulation (forced by subglacial runoff from marine-terminating glaciers) exchanges ~10% of the fjord volume over a 10 d period under typical summer conditions. However, while the intermediary circulation generates higher exchange rates between the fjord and shelf, the buoyancy-driven circulation is consistent over time hence more efficient at transporting water along the full length of the fjord. We thus find that buoyancy-driven circulation is the primary conveyor of oceanic heat to glaciers during the melt season. Intermediary circulation will however dominate during winter unless there is sufficient input of fresh water from subglacial melting. Our findings suggest that increasing shelf water temperatures and stronger buoyancy-driven circulation caused the heat available for melting at Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier to increase by ~50% between 1993–2001 and 2002–11, broadly coincident with the onset of rapid retreat at this glacier. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic East Greenland glacier Greenland Journal of Glaciology Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Greenland Journal of Glaciology 62 236 1167 1180 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
arctic glaciology calving glacier discharge ice/ocean interactions Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
spellingShingle |
arctic glaciology calving glacier discharge ice/ocean interactions Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 TOM COWTON ANDREW SOLE PETER NIENOW DONALD SLATER DAVID WILTON EDWARD HANNA Controls on the transport of oceanic heat to Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier, East Greenland |
topic_facet |
arctic glaciology calving glacier discharge ice/ocean interactions Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
description |
Greenland's marine-terminating glaciers may be sensitive to oceanic heat, but the fjord processes controlling delivery of this heat to glacier termini remain poorly constrained. Here we use a three-dimensional numerical model of Kangerdlugssuaq Fjord, East Greenland, to examine controls on fjord/shelf exchange. We find that shelf-forced intermediary circulation can replace up to ~25% of the fjord volume with shelf waters within 10 d, while buoyancy-driven circulation (forced by subglacial runoff from marine-terminating glaciers) exchanges ~10% of the fjord volume over a 10 d period under typical summer conditions. However, while the intermediary circulation generates higher exchange rates between the fjord and shelf, the buoyancy-driven circulation is consistent over time hence more efficient at transporting water along the full length of the fjord. We thus find that buoyancy-driven circulation is the primary conveyor of oceanic heat to glaciers during the melt season. Intermediary circulation will however dominate during winter unless there is sufficient input of fresh water from subglacial melting. Our findings suggest that increasing shelf water temperatures and stronger buoyancy-driven circulation caused the heat available for melting at Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier to increase by ~50% between 1993–2001 and 2002–11, broadly coincident with the onset of rapid retreat at this glacier. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
TOM COWTON ANDREW SOLE PETER NIENOW DONALD SLATER DAVID WILTON EDWARD HANNA |
author_facet |
TOM COWTON ANDREW SOLE PETER NIENOW DONALD SLATER DAVID WILTON EDWARD HANNA |
author_sort |
TOM COWTON |
title |
Controls on the transport of oceanic heat to Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier, East Greenland |
title_short |
Controls on the transport of oceanic heat to Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier, East Greenland |
title_full |
Controls on the transport of oceanic heat to Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier, East Greenland |
title_fullStr |
Controls on the transport of oceanic heat to Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier, East Greenland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Controls on the transport of oceanic heat to Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier, East Greenland |
title_sort |
controls on the transport of oceanic heat to kangerdlugssuaq glacier, east greenland |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2016.117 https://doaj.org/article/e030079df73d4de6bba25eaba26306f1 |
geographic |
Arctic Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Greenland |
genre |
Arctic East Greenland glacier Greenland Journal of Glaciology |
genre_facet |
Arctic East Greenland glacier Greenland Journal of Glaciology |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology, Vol 62, Pp 1167-1180 (2016) |
op_relation |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143016001179/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0022-1430 https://doaj.org/toc/1727-5652 doi:10.1017/jog.2016.117 0022-1430 1727-5652 https://doaj.org/article/e030079df73d4de6bba25eaba26306f1 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2016.117 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_volume |
62 |
container_issue |
236 |
container_start_page |
1167 |
op_container_end_page |
1180 |
_version_ |
1766339670822617088 |