Iceberg melting substantially modifies oceanic heat flux towards a major Greenlandic tidewater glacier
Fjord dynamics influence oceanic heat flux to the Greenland ice sheet. Submarine iceberg melting releases large volumes of freshwater within Greenland’s fjords, yet its impact on fjord dynamics remains unclear. We modify an ocean model to simulate submarine iceberg melting in Sermilik Fjord, east Gr...
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ftleedsuniv:oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:186001 2023-05-15T16:03:45+02:00 Iceberg melting substantially modifies oceanic heat flux towards a major Greenlandic tidewater glacier Davison, BJ Cowton, TR Cottier, FR Sole, AJ 2020-12 text https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/186001/ https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/186001/1/Iceberg%20melting%20substantially%20modifies%20oceanic%20heat%20flux%20towards%20a%20major%20Greenlandic%20tidewater%20glacier.pdf en eng Nature Research https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/186001/1/Iceberg%20melting%20substantially%20modifies%20oceanic%20heat%20flux%20towards%20a%20major%20Greenlandic%20tidewater%20glacier.pdf Davison, BJ, Cowton, TR, Cottier, FR et al. (1 more author) (2020) Iceberg melting substantially modifies oceanic heat flux towards a major Greenlandic tidewater glacier. Nature Communications, 11 (1). 5983. ISSN 2041-1723 cc_by_4 CC-BY Article NonPeerReviewed 2020 ftleedsuniv 2023-01-30T22:46:17Z Fjord dynamics influence oceanic heat flux to the Greenland ice sheet. Submarine iceberg melting releases large volumes of freshwater within Greenland’s fjords, yet its impact on fjord dynamics remains unclear. We modify an ocean model to simulate submarine iceberg melting in Sermilik Fjord, east Greenland. Here we find that submarine iceberg melting cools and freshens the fjord by up to ~5 °C and 0.7 psu in the upper 100-200 m. The release of freshwater from icebergs drives an overturning circulation, resulting in a ~10% increase in net up-fjord heat flux. In addition, we find that submarine iceberg melting accounts for over 95% of heat used for ice melt in Sermilik Fjord. Our results highlight the substantial impact that icebergs have on the dynamics of a major Greenlandic fjord, demonstrating the importance of including related processes in studies that seek to quantify interactions between the ice sheet and the ocean. Article in Journal/Newspaper East Greenland glacier Greenland greenlandic Ice Sheet Sermilik Tidewater White Rose Research Online (Universities of Leeds, Sheffield & York) Greenland |
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Open Polar |
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White Rose Research Online (Universities of Leeds, Sheffield & York) |
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ftleedsuniv |
language |
English |
description |
Fjord dynamics influence oceanic heat flux to the Greenland ice sheet. Submarine iceberg melting releases large volumes of freshwater within Greenland’s fjords, yet its impact on fjord dynamics remains unclear. We modify an ocean model to simulate submarine iceberg melting in Sermilik Fjord, east Greenland. Here we find that submarine iceberg melting cools and freshens the fjord by up to ~5 °C and 0.7 psu in the upper 100-200 m. The release of freshwater from icebergs drives an overturning circulation, resulting in a ~10% increase in net up-fjord heat flux. In addition, we find that submarine iceberg melting accounts for over 95% of heat used for ice melt in Sermilik Fjord. Our results highlight the substantial impact that icebergs have on the dynamics of a major Greenlandic fjord, demonstrating the importance of including related processes in studies that seek to quantify interactions between the ice sheet and the ocean. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Davison, BJ Cowton, TR Cottier, FR Sole, AJ |
spellingShingle |
Davison, BJ Cowton, TR Cottier, FR Sole, AJ Iceberg melting substantially modifies oceanic heat flux towards a major Greenlandic tidewater glacier |
author_facet |
Davison, BJ Cowton, TR Cottier, FR Sole, AJ |
author_sort |
Davison, BJ |
title |
Iceberg melting substantially modifies oceanic heat flux towards a major Greenlandic tidewater glacier |
title_short |
Iceberg melting substantially modifies oceanic heat flux towards a major Greenlandic tidewater glacier |
title_full |
Iceberg melting substantially modifies oceanic heat flux towards a major Greenlandic tidewater glacier |
title_fullStr |
Iceberg melting substantially modifies oceanic heat flux towards a major Greenlandic tidewater glacier |
title_full_unstemmed |
Iceberg melting substantially modifies oceanic heat flux towards a major Greenlandic tidewater glacier |
title_sort |
iceberg melting substantially modifies oceanic heat flux towards a major greenlandic tidewater glacier |
publisher |
Nature Research |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/186001/ https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/186001/1/Iceberg%20melting%20substantially%20modifies%20oceanic%20heat%20flux%20towards%20a%20major%20Greenlandic%20tidewater%20glacier.pdf |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
East Greenland glacier Greenland greenlandic Ice Sheet Sermilik Tidewater |
genre_facet |
East Greenland glacier Greenland greenlandic Ice Sheet Sermilik Tidewater |
op_relation |
https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/186001/1/Iceberg%20melting%20substantially%20modifies%20oceanic%20heat%20flux%20towards%20a%20major%20Greenlandic%20tidewater%20glacier.pdf Davison, BJ, Cowton, TR, Cottier, FR et al. (1 more author) (2020) Iceberg melting substantially modifies oceanic heat flux towards a major Greenlandic tidewater glacier. Nature Communications, 11 (1). 5983. ISSN 2041-1723 |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
_version_ |
1766399434579509248 |