Calving Seasonality Associated With Melt‐Undercutting and Lake Ice Cover
A detailed understanding of calving processes at the lacustrine margins of the Greenland ice sheet is necessary for accurately forecasting its dynamic response to ongoing climate change. However, existing data sets of lacustrine calving are limited to summer seasons and to alpine glaciers. Here, we...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
American Geophysical Union
2020
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/164253/ https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/164253/1/Mallalieu_et_al,2020_GRL.pdf |
| Summary: | A detailed understanding of calving processes at the lacustrine margins of the Greenland ice sheet is necessary for accurately forecasting its dynamic response to ongoing climate change. However, existing data sets of lacustrine calving are limited to summer seasons and to alpine glaciers. Here, we use an integrated time‐lapse and structure‐from‐motion approach to generate the first continuous year‐round volumetric record of calving processes at a lacustrine ice sheet margin. We identify two distinct calving regimes that are associated with melt‐undercutting and lake ice cover. We also find that calving rates respond rapidly to sudden lake drainage. Given that lake temperature, lake ice cover, and sudden lake drainages are controlled by air temperature and ice‐margin thinning, we suggest that climate change, manifested in lengthening summer seasons, will accelerate rates of mass loss and terminus recession at lacustrine ice‐margins in Greenland. |
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