Disentangling pathways of warm Atlantic inflow to the 79-North Glacier with Lagrangian trajectories in a high resolution ocean model
The 79-North Glacier (79-NG), a major glacier in North-East Greenland that was subject to an increased melt in the last years. The rate of ice loss by basal melting at marine-terminating glaciers is linked to the flow of warm water masses to the glacier that enhance basal melting. However, the source...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Conference Object |
| Language: | unknown |
| Published: |
2018
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/45266/ |
| Summary: | The 79-North Glacier (79-NG), a major glacier in North-East Greenland that was subject to an increased melt in the last years. The rate of ice loss by basal melting at marine-terminating glaciers is linked to the flow of warm water masses to the glacier that enhance basal melting. However, the sources and pathways of the warm waters on the shelf, their variability and mechanisms of the heat transfer involved are variable regionally and still clearly known. We use Lagrangian particle simulations based on output from a high resolution FESOM (Finite Element Sea Ice-Ocean Model) model to backtrack the source water masses of the warm water inflow to the 79NG. The Lagrangian particles visualize pathways of these waters. They also disclose intense eddy mixing processes in the Fram Strait and the vivid changes of temperature and salinity along the water mass trajectories. |
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