Greenland Ice Sheet surface topography and drainage structure controlled by the transfer of basal variability
Ice flow can transfer variations in basal topography and basal slipperiness to the ice surface. Recent developments in this theory have made it possible to conduct numerical experiments to predict mesoscale surface topographical undulations and surface relief on an ice sheet-scale. Focussing here on...
Published in: | Frontiers in Earth Science |
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Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media
2018
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Online Access: | https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/131155/ https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/131155/10/feart-06-00101.pdf https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2018.00101 |
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ftleedsuniv:oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:131155 2023-05-15T16:28:15+02:00 Greenland Ice Sheet surface topography and drainage structure controlled by the transfer of basal variability Igneczi, A. Sole, A. Livingstone, S. Ng, F. Yang, K. 2018-08-08 text https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/131155/ https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/131155/10/feart-06-00101.pdf https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2018.00101 en eng Frontiers Media https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/131155/10/feart-06-00101.pdf Igneczi, A., Sole, A. orcid.org/0000-0001-5290-8967 , Livingstone, S. et al. (2 more authors) (2018) Greenland Ice Sheet surface topography and drainage structure controlled by the transfer of basal variability. Frontiers in Earth Science, 6. 101. ISSN 2296-6463 cc_by_4 CC-BY Article PeerReviewed 2018 ftleedsuniv https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2018.00101 2023-01-30T22:06:57Z Ice flow can transfer variations in basal topography and basal slipperiness to the ice surface. Recent developments in this theory have made it possible to conduct numerical experiments to predict mesoscale surface topographical undulations and surface relief on an ice sheet-scale. Focussing here on the contemporary Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS), we demonstrate that the theory can be used to predict the surface relief of the ice sheet from bed topography, ice thickness and basal slip ratio datasets. In certain regions of the GrIS our approach overestimates, while in others underestimates, the observed surface relief. The magnitude and spatial pattern of these mismatches correspond with the theory's limitations and known uncertainties in the bed topography and basal slip ratio datasets. Our prediction experiment establishes that the first-order control on GrIS surface relief is basal topography modulated by ice thickness, surface slope and basal slip ratio. Additional analyses show that the surface relief, which is controlled by the bed-to-surface transfer of basal topography, preconditions the large scale spatial structure of surface drainage, with other factors such as surface runoff modulating the actual drainage system through influencing the temporal evolution of meltwater features. It follows that the spatial structure of surface drainage depends strongly on the transfer of basal topography to the ice surface. These findings represent an important step toward investigating and understanding the net long-term (>102 years) effect of surface drainage on ice sheet mass balance and dynamics during deglaciation events. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Ice Sheet White Rose Research Online (Universities of Leeds, Sheffield & York) Greenland Frontiers in Earth Science 6 |
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Open Polar |
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White Rose Research Online (Universities of Leeds, Sheffield & York) |
op_collection_id |
ftleedsuniv |
language |
English |
description |
Ice flow can transfer variations in basal topography and basal slipperiness to the ice surface. Recent developments in this theory have made it possible to conduct numerical experiments to predict mesoscale surface topographical undulations and surface relief on an ice sheet-scale. Focussing here on the contemporary Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS), we demonstrate that the theory can be used to predict the surface relief of the ice sheet from bed topography, ice thickness and basal slip ratio datasets. In certain regions of the GrIS our approach overestimates, while in others underestimates, the observed surface relief. The magnitude and spatial pattern of these mismatches correspond with the theory's limitations and known uncertainties in the bed topography and basal slip ratio datasets. Our prediction experiment establishes that the first-order control on GrIS surface relief is basal topography modulated by ice thickness, surface slope and basal slip ratio. Additional analyses show that the surface relief, which is controlled by the bed-to-surface transfer of basal topography, preconditions the large scale spatial structure of surface drainage, with other factors such as surface runoff modulating the actual drainage system through influencing the temporal evolution of meltwater features. It follows that the spatial structure of surface drainage depends strongly on the transfer of basal topography to the ice surface. These findings represent an important step toward investigating and understanding the net long-term (>102 years) effect of surface drainage on ice sheet mass balance and dynamics during deglaciation events. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Igneczi, A. Sole, A. Livingstone, S. Ng, F. Yang, K. |
spellingShingle |
Igneczi, A. Sole, A. Livingstone, S. Ng, F. Yang, K. Greenland Ice Sheet surface topography and drainage structure controlled by the transfer of basal variability |
author_facet |
Igneczi, A. Sole, A. Livingstone, S. Ng, F. Yang, K. |
author_sort |
Igneczi, A. |
title |
Greenland Ice Sheet surface topography and drainage structure controlled by the transfer of basal variability |
title_short |
Greenland Ice Sheet surface topography and drainage structure controlled by the transfer of basal variability |
title_full |
Greenland Ice Sheet surface topography and drainage structure controlled by the transfer of basal variability |
title_fullStr |
Greenland Ice Sheet surface topography and drainage structure controlled by the transfer of basal variability |
title_full_unstemmed |
Greenland Ice Sheet surface topography and drainage structure controlled by the transfer of basal variability |
title_sort |
greenland ice sheet surface topography and drainage structure controlled by the transfer of basal variability |
publisher |
Frontiers Media |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/131155/ https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/131155/10/feart-06-00101.pdf https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2018.00101 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Greenland Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Greenland Ice Sheet |
op_relation |
https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/131155/10/feart-06-00101.pdf Igneczi, A., Sole, A. orcid.org/0000-0001-5290-8967 , Livingstone, S. et al. (2 more authors) (2018) Greenland Ice Sheet surface topography and drainage structure controlled by the transfer of basal variability. Frontiers in Earth Science, 6. 101. ISSN 2296-6463 |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2018.00101 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Earth Science |
container_volume |
6 |
_version_ |
1766017883666644992 |