Greenland Ice Sheet flow response to runoff variability
We use observations of ice sheet surface motion from a Global Positioning System network operating from 2006 to 2014 around North Lake in west Greenland to investigate the dynamical response of the Greenland Ice Sheet's ablation area to interannual variability in surface melting. We find no sta...
Published in: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/121545 |
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ftmit:oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/121545 2023-06-11T04:12:04+02:00 Greenland Ice Sheet flow response to runoff variability Stevens, Laura A. Behn, Mark D. Das, Sarah B. Joughin, Ian Noël, Brice P. Y. van den Broeke, Michiel R. Herring, Thomas A Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences thomas herring 2016-09 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/121545 en_US eng American Geophysical Union (AGU) http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2016gl070414 Geophysical Research Letters 0094-8276 https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/121545 Stevens, Laura A. et al. “Greenland Ice Sheet Flow Response to Runoff Variability.” Geophysical Research Letters 43, 21 (November 2016): 11,295–11,303 © 2016 American Geophysical Union Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. Prof. Herring via Chris Sherratt Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 2016 ftmit https://doi.org/10.1002/2016gl070414 2023-05-29T08:20:08Z We use observations of ice sheet surface motion from a Global Positioning System network operating from 2006 to 2014 around North Lake in west Greenland to investigate the dynamical response of the Greenland Ice Sheet's ablation area to interannual variability in surface melting. We find no statistically significant relationship between runoff season characteristics and ice flow velocities within a given year or season. Over the 7 year time series, annual velocities at North Lake decrease at an average rate of −0.9 ± 1.1 m yr⁻², consistent with the negative trend in annual velocities observed in neighboring regions over recent decades. We find that net runoff integrated over several preceding years has a negative correlation with annual velocities, similar to findings from the two other available decadal records of ice velocity in western Greenland. However, we argue that this correlation is not necessarily evidence for a direct hydrologic mechanism acting on the timescale of multiple years but could be a statistical construct. Finally, we stress that neither the decadal slowdown trend nor the negative correlation between velocity and integrated runoff is predicted by current ice‐sheet models, underscoring that these models do not yet capture all the relevant feedbacks between runoff and ice dynamics needed to predict long‐term trends in ice sheet flow. Keywords: Greenland Ice Sheet; ice flow; runoff Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Ice Sheet DSpace@MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Greenland Geophysical Research Letters 43 21 11295 11303 |
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Open Polar |
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DSpace@MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) |
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ftmit |
language |
English |
description |
We use observations of ice sheet surface motion from a Global Positioning System network operating from 2006 to 2014 around North Lake in west Greenland to investigate the dynamical response of the Greenland Ice Sheet's ablation area to interannual variability in surface melting. We find no statistically significant relationship between runoff season characteristics and ice flow velocities within a given year or season. Over the 7 year time series, annual velocities at North Lake decrease at an average rate of −0.9 ± 1.1 m yr⁻², consistent with the negative trend in annual velocities observed in neighboring regions over recent decades. We find that net runoff integrated over several preceding years has a negative correlation with annual velocities, similar to findings from the two other available decadal records of ice velocity in western Greenland. However, we argue that this correlation is not necessarily evidence for a direct hydrologic mechanism acting on the timescale of multiple years but could be a statistical construct. Finally, we stress that neither the decadal slowdown trend nor the negative correlation between velocity and integrated runoff is predicted by current ice‐sheet models, underscoring that these models do not yet capture all the relevant feedbacks between runoff and ice dynamics needed to predict long‐term trends in ice sheet flow. Keywords: Greenland Ice Sheet; ice flow; runoff |
author2 |
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences thomas herring |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Stevens, Laura A. Behn, Mark D. Das, Sarah B. Joughin, Ian Noël, Brice P. Y. van den Broeke, Michiel R. Herring, Thomas A |
spellingShingle |
Stevens, Laura A. Behn, Mark D. Das, Sarah B. Joughin, Ian Noël, Brice P. Y. van den Broeke, Michiel R. Herring, Thomas A Greenland Ice Sheet flow response to runoff variability |
author_facet |
Stevens, Laura A. Behn, Mark D. Das, Sarah B. Joughin, Ian Noël, Brice P. Y. van den Broeke, Michiel R. Herring, Thomas A |
author_sort |
Stevens, Laura A. |
title |
Greenland Ice Sheet flow response to runoff variability |
title_short |
Greenland Ice Sheet flow response to runoff variability |
title_full |
Greenland Ice Sheet flow response to runoff variability |
title_fullStr |
Greenland Ice Sheet flow response to runoff variability |
title_full_unstemmed |
Greenland Ice Sheet flow response to runoff variability |
title_sort |
greenland ice sheet flow response to runoff variability |
publisher |
American Geophysical Union (AGU) |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/121545 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Greenland Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Greenland Ice Sheet |
op_source |
Prof. Herring via Chris Sherratt |
op_relation |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2016gl070414 Geophysical Research Letters 0094-8276 https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/121545 Stevens, Laura A. et al. “Greenland Ice Sheet Flow Response to Runoff Variability.” Geophysical Research Letters 43, 21 (November 2016): 11,295–11,303 © 2016 American Geophysical Union |
op_rights |
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/2016gl070414 |
container_title |
Geophysical Research Letters |
container_volume |
43 |
container_issue |
21 |
container_start_page |
11295 |
op_container_end_page |
11303 |
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1768387672387092480 |