Rapid expansion of Greenland’s low-permeability ice slabs
peer reviewed In recent decades, meltwater runoff has accelerated to become the dominant mechanism for mass loss in the Greenland ice sheet1,2,3. In Greenland’s high-elevation interior, porous snow and firn accumulate; these can absorb surface meltwater and inhibit runoff4, but this buffering effect...
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Online Access: | https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/239564 https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/239564/1/s41586-019-1550-3.pdf https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1550-3 |
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ftorbi:oai:orbi.ulg.ac.be:2268/239564 2024-04-21T08:03:23+00:00 Rapid expansion of Greenland’s low-permeability ice slabs MacFerrin, Michael Machguth, Horst van As, D. Charalampidis, Charalampos Stevens, C. Heilig, Achim Vandecrux, Baptiste Langen, Peter Mottram, R. Fettweis, Xavier van den Broeke, M. Pfeffer, W. Moussavi, M. Abdalati, Waleed 2019-09-18 https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/239564 https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/239564/1/s41586-019-1550-3.pdf https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1550-3 en eng Nature Publishing Group https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1550-3 urn:issn:0028-0836 urn:issn:1476-4687 https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/239564 info:hdl:2268/239564 https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/239564/1/s41586-019-1550-3.pdf doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1550-3 scopus-id:2-s2.0-85072381625 info:pmid:31534244 open access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Nature, 573 (2019-09-18) Physical chemical mathematical & earth Sciences Earth sciences & physical geography Physique chimie mathématiques & sciences de la terre Sciences de la terre & géographie physique journal article http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501 info:eu-repo/semantics/article peer reviewed 2019 ftorbi https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1550-3 2024-03-27T14:54:04Z peer reviewed In recent decades, meltwater runoff has accelerated to become the dominant mechanism for mass loss in the Greenland ice sheet1,2,3. In Greenland’s high-elevation interior, porous snow and firn accumulate; these can absorb surface meltwater and inhibit runoff4, but this buffering effect is limited if enough water refreezes near the surface to restrict percolation5,6. However, the influence of refreezing on runoff from Greenland remains largely unquantified. Here we use firn cores, radar observations and regional climate models to show that recent increases in meltwater have resulted in the formation of metres-thick, low-permeability ‘ice slabs’ that have expanded the Greenland ice sheet’s total runoff area by 26 ± 3 per cent since 2001. Although runoff from the top of ice slabs has added less than one millimetre to global sea-level rise so far, this contribution will grow substantially as ice slabs expand inland in a warming climate. Runoff over ice slabs is set to contribute 7 to 33 millimetres and 17 to 74 millimetres to global sea-level rise by 2100 under moderate- and high-emissions scenarios, respectively—approximately double the estimated runoff from Greenland’s high-elevation interior, as predicted by surface mass balance models without ice slabs. Ice slabs will have an important role in enhancing surface meltwater feedback processes, fundamentally altering the ice sheet’s present and future hydrology. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland University of Liège: ORBi (Open Repository and Bibliography) Nature 573 7774 403 407 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Liège: ORBi (Open Repository and Bibliography) |
op_collection_id |
ftorbi |
language |
English |
topic |
Physical chemical mathematical & earth Sciences Earth sciences & physical geography Physique chimie mathématiques & sciences de la terre Sciences de la terre & géographie physique |
spellingShingle |
Physical chemical mathematical & earth Sciences Earth sciences & physical geography Physique chimie mathématiques & sciences de la terre Sciences de la terre & géographie physique MacFerrin, Michael Machguth, Horst van As, D. Charalampidis, Charalampos Stevens, C. Heilig, Achim Vandecrux, Baptiste Langen, Peter Mottram, R. Fettweis, Xavier van den Broeke, M. Pfeffer, W. Moussavi, M. Abdalati, Waleed Rapid expansion of Greenland’s low-permeability ice slabs |
topic_facet |
Physical chemical mathematical & earth Sciences Earth sciences & physical geography Physique chimie mathématiques & sciences de la terre Sciences de la terre & géographie physique |
description |
peer reviewed In recent decades, meltwater runoff has accelerated to become the dominant mechanism for mass loss in the Greenland ice sheet1,2,3. In Greenland’s high-elevation interior, porous snow and firn accumulate; these can absorb surface meltwater and inhibit runoff4, but this buffering effect is limited if enough water refreezes near the surface to restrict percolation5,6. However, the influence of refreezing on runoff from Greenland remains largely unquantified. Here we use firn cores, radar observations and regional climate models to show that recent increases in meltwater have resulted in the formation of metres-thick, low-permeability ‘ice slabs’ that have expanded the Greenland ice sheet’s total runoff area by 26 ± 3 per cent since 2001. Although runoff from the top of ice slabs has added less than one millimetre to global sea-level rise so far, this contribution will grow substantially as ice slabs expand inland in a warming climate. Runoff over ice slabs is set to contribute 7 to 33 millimetres and 17 to 74 millimetres to global sea-level rise by 2100 under moderate- and high-emissions scenarios, respectively—approximately double the estimated runoff from Greenland’s high-elevation interior, as predicted by surface mass balance models without ice slabs. Ice slabs will have an important role in enhancing surface meltwater feedback processes, fundamentally altering the ice sheet’s present and future hydrology. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
MacFerrin, Michael Machguth, Horst van As, D. Charalampidis, Charalampos Stevens, C. Heilig, Achim Vandecrux, Baptiste Langen, Peter Mottram, R. Fettweis, Xavier van den Broeke, M. Pfeffer, W. Moussavi, M. Abdalati, Waleed |
author_facet |
MacFerrin, Michael Machguth, Horst van As, D. Charalampidis, Charalampos Stevens, C. Heilig, Achim Vandecrux, Baptiste Langen, Peter Mottram, R. Fettweis, Xavier van den Broeke, M. Pfeffer, W. Moussavi, M. Abdalati, Waleed |
author_sort |
MacFerrin, Michael |
title |
Rapid expansion of Greenland’s low-permeability ice slabs |
title_short |
Rapid expansion of Greenland’s low-permeability ice slabs |
title_full |
Rapid expansion of Greenland’s low-permeability ice slabs |
title_fullStr |
Rapid expansion of Greenland’s low-permeability ice slabs |
title_full_unstemmed |
Rapid expansion of Greenland’s low-permeability ice slabs |
title_sort |
rapid expansion of greenland’s low-permeability ice slabs |
publisher |
Nature Publishing Group |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/239564 https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/239564/1/s41586-019-1550-3.pdf https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1550-3 |
genre |
Greenland |
genre_facet |
Greenland |
op_source |
Nature, 573 (2019-09-18) |
op_relation |
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1550-3 urn:issn:0028-0836 urn:issn:1476-4687 https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/239564 info:hdl:2268/239564 https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/239564/1/s41586-019-1550-3.pdf doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1550-3 scopus-id:2-s2.0-85072381625 info:pmid:31534244 |
op_rights |
open access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1550-3 |
container_title |
Nature |
container_volume |
573 |
container_issue |
7774 |
container_start_page |
403 |
op_container_end_page |
407 |
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1796943250353815552 |