The contrasting response of outlet glaciers to interior and ocean forcing
The dynamics of marine-terminating outlet glaciers are of fundamental interest in glaciology and affect mass loss from ice sheets in a warming climate. In this study, we analyze the response of outlet glaciers to different sources of climate forcing. We find that outlet glaciers have a characteristi...
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2020
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ftnonlinearchiv:oai:noa.gwlb.de:cop_mods_00052315 2023-05-15T18:32:33+02:00 The contrasting response of outlet glaciers to interior and ocean forcing Christian, John Erich Robel, Alexander A. Proistosescu, Cristian Roe, Gerard Koutnik, Michelle Christianson, Knut 2020-07 electronic https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2515-2020 https://noa.gwlb.de/receive/cop_mods_00052315 https://noa.gwlb.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/cop_derivate_00051968/tc-14-2515-2020.pdf https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/14/2515/2020/tc-14-2515-2020.pdf eng eng Copernicus Publications The Cryosphere -- ˜Theœ Cryosphere -- http://www.bibliothek.uni-regensburg.de/ezeit/?2393169 -- http://www.the-cryosphere.net/ -- 1994-0424 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2515-2020 https://noa.gwlb.de/receive/cop_mods_00052315 https://noa.gwlb.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/cop_derivate_00051968/tc-14-2515-2020.pdf https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/14/2515/2020/tc-14-2515-2020.pdf https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ uneingeschränkt info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess CC-BY article Verlagsveröffentlichung article Text doc-type:article 2020 ftnonlinearchiv https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2515-2020 2022-02-08T22:36:03Z The dynamics of marine-terminating outlet glaciers are of fundamental interest in glaciology and affect mass loss from ice sheets in a warming climate. In this study, we analyze the response of outlet glaciers to different sources of climate forcing. We find that outlet glaciers have a characteristically different transient response to surface-mass-balance forcing applied over the interior than to oceanic forcing applied at the grounding line. A recently developed reduced model represents outlet-glacier dynamics via two widely separated response timescales: a fast response associated with grounding-zone dynamics and a slow response of interior ice. The reduced model is shown to emulate the behavior of a more complex numerical model of ice flow. Together, these models demonstrate that ocean forcing first engages the fast, local response and then the slow adjustment of interior ice, whereas surface-mass-balance forcing is dominated by the slow interior adjustment. We also demonstrate the importance of the timescales of stochastic forcing for assessing the natural variability in outlet glaciers, highlighting that decadal persistence in ocean variability can affect the behavior of outlet glaciers on centennial and longer timescales. Finally, we show that these transient responses have important implications for attributing observed glacier changes to natural or anthropogenic influences; the future change already committed by past forcing; and the impact of past climate changes on the preindustrial glacier state, against which current and future anthropogenic influences are assessed. Article in Journal/Newspaper The Cryosphere Niedersächsisches Online-Archiv NOA The Cryosphere 14 7 2515 2535 |
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English |
topic |
article Verlagsveröffentlichung |
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article Verlagsveröffentlichung Christian, John Erich Robel, Alexander A. Proistosescu, Cristian Roe, Gerard Koutnik, Michelle Christianson, Knut The contrasting response of outlet glaciers to interior and ocean forcing |
topic_facet |
article Verlagsveröffentlichung |
description |
The dynamics of marine-terminating outlet glaciers are of fundamental interest in glaciology and affect mass loss from ice sheets in a warming climate. In this study, we analyze the response of outlet glaciers to different sources of climate forcing. We find that outlet glaciers have a characteristically different transient response to surface-mass-balance forcing applied over the interior than to oceanic forcing applied at the grounding line. A recently developed reduced model represents outlet-glacier dynamics via two widely separated response timescales: a fast response associated with grounding-zone dynamics and a slow response of interior ice. The reduced model is shown to emulate the behavior of a more complex numerical model of ice flow. Together, these models demonstrate that ocean forcing first engages the fast, local response and then the slow adjustment of interior ice, whereas surface-mass-balance forcing is dominated by the slow interior adjustment. We also demonstrate the importance of the timescales of stochastic forcing for assessing the natural variability in outlet glaciers, highlighting that decadal persistence in ocean variability can affect the behavior of outlet glaciers on centennial and longer timescales. Finally, we show that these transient responses have important implications for attributing observed glacier changes to natural or anthropogenic influences; the future change already committed by past forcing; and the impact of past climate changes on the preindustrial glacier state, against which current and future anthropogenic influences are assessed. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Christian, John Erich Robel, Alexander A. Proistosescu, Cristian Roe, Gerard Koutnik, Michelle Christianson, Knut |
author_facet |
Christian, John Erich Robel, Alexander A. Proistosescu, Cristian Roe, Gerard Koutnik, Michelle Christianson, Knut |
author_sort |
Christian, John Erich |
title |
The contrasting response of outlet glaciers to interior and ocean forcing |
title_short |
The contrasting response of outlet glaciers to interior and ocean forcing |
title_full |
The contrasting response of outlet glaciers to interior and ocean forcing |
title_fullStr |
The contrasting response of outlet glaciers to interior and ocean forcing |
title_full_unstemmed |
The contrasting response of outlet glaciers to interior and ocean forcing |
title_sort |
contrasting response of outlet glaciers to interior and ocean forcing |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2515-2020 https://noa.gwlb.de/receive/cop_mods_00052315 https://noa.gwlb.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/cop_derivate_00051968/tc-14-2515-2020.pdf https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/14/2515/2020/tc-14-2515-2020.pdf |
genre |
The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
The Cryosphere |
op_relation |
The Cryosphere -- ˜Theœ Cryosphere -- http://www.bibliothek.uni-regensburg.de/ezeit/?2393169 -- http://www.the-cryosphere.net/ -- 1994-0424 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2515-2020 https://noa.gwlb.de/receive/cop_mods_00052315 https://noa.gwlb.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/cop_derivate_00051968/tc-14-2515-2020.pdf https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/14/2515/2020/tc-14-2515-2020.pdf |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ uneingeschränkt info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2515-2020 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
14 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
2515 |
op_container_end_page |
2535 |
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1766216743022231552 |