Substantial export of suspended sediment to the global oceans from glacial erosion in Greenland
peer reviewed Limited measurements along Greenland's remote coastline hamper quantification of the sediment and associated nutrients draining the Greenland ice sheet, despite the potential influence of river-transported suspended sediment on phytoplankton blooms and carbon sequestration. Here w...
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Online Access: | https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/301906 https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/301906/1/Overeem_Ngeo_2017.pdf https://doi.org/10.1038/NGEO3046 |
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ftorbi:oai:orbi.ulg.ac.be:2268/301906 2024-04-21T08:02:53+00:00 Substantial export of suspended sediment to the global oceans from glacial erosion in Greenland Overeem, I. Hudson, B.D. Syvitski, J.P.M. Mikkelsen, A.B. Hasholt, B. Van Den Broeke, M.R. Noël, Brice Morlighem, M. 2017-11 https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/301906 https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/301906/1/Overeem_Ngeo_2017.pdf https://doi.org/10.1038/NGEO3046 en eng Nature Publishing Group http://www.nature.com/articles/ngeo3046.pdf urn:issn:1752-0894 urn:issn:1752-0908 https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/301906 info:hdl:2268/301906 https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/301906/1/Overeem_Ngeo_2017.pdf doi:10.1038/NGEO3046 scopus-id:2-s2.0-85032668013 open access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Nature Geoscience, 10 (11), 859 - 863 (2017-11) Earth and Planetary Sciences (all) General Earth and Planetary Sciences 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 2017 ftorbi https://doi.org/10.1038/NGEO3046 2024-03-27T14:57:53Z peer reviewed Limited measurements along Greenland's remote coastline hamper quantification of the sediment and associated nutrients draining the Greenland ice sheet, despite the potential influence of river-transported suspended sediment on phytoplankton blooms and carbon sequestration. Here we calibrate satellite imagery to estimate suspended sediment concentration for 160 proglacial rivers across Greenland. Combining these suspended sediment reconstructions with numerical calculations of meltwater runoff, we quantify the amount and spatial pattern of sediment export from the ice sheet. We find that, although runoff from Greenland represents only 1.1% of the Earth's freshwater flux, the Greenland ice sheet produces approximately 8% of the modern fluvial export of suspended sediment to the global ocean. Sediment loads are highly variable between rivers, consistent with observed differences in ice dynamics and thus with control by glacial erosion. Rivers that originate from deeply incised, fast-moving glacial tongues form distinct sediment-export hotspots: just 15% of Greenland's rivers transport 80% of the total sediment load of the ice sheet. We conclude that future acceleration of melt and ice sheet flow may increase sediment delivery from Greenland to its fjords and the nearby ocean. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Ice Sheet University of Liège: ORBi (Open Repository and Bibliography) Nature Geoscience 10 11 859 863 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Liège: ORBi (Open Repository and Bibliography) |
op_collection_id |
ftorbi |
language |
English |
topic |
Earth and Planetary Sciences (all) General Earth and Planetary Sciences Physical chemical mathematical & earth Sciences Earth sciences & physical geography Physique chimie mathématiques & sciences de la terre Sciences de la terre & géographie physique |
spellingShingle |
Earth and Planetary Sciences (all) General Earth and Planetary Sciences Physical chemical mathematical & earth Sciences Earth sciences & physical geography Physique chimie mathématiques & sciences de la terre Sciences de la terre & géographie physique Overeem, I. Hudson, B.D. Syvitski, J.P.M. Mikkelsen, A.B. Hasholt, B. Van Den Broeke, M.R. Noël, Brice Morlighem, M. Substantial export of suspended sediment to the global oceans from glacial erosion in Greenland |
topic_facet |
Earth and Planetary Sciences (all) General Earth and Planetary Sciences 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 Limited measurements along Greenland's remote coastline hamper quantification of the sediment and associated nutrients draining the Greenland ice sheet, despite the potential influence of river-transported suspended sediment on phytoplankton blooms and carbon sequestration. Here we calibrate satellite imagery to estimate suspended sediment concentration for 160 proglacial rivers across Greenland. Combining these suspended sediment reconstructions with numerical calculations of meltwater runoff, we quantify the amount and spatial pattern of sediment export from the ice sheet. We find that, although runoff from Greenland represents only 1.1% of the Earth's freshwater flux, the Greenland ice sheet produces approximately 8% of the modern fluvial export of suspended sediment to the global ocean. Sediment loads are highly variable between rivers, consistent with observed differences in ice dynamics and thus with control by glacial erosion. Rivers that originate from deeply incised, fast-moving glacial tongues form distinct sediment-export hotspots: just 15% of Greenland's rivers transport 80% of the total sediment load of the ice sheet. We conclude that future acceleration of melt and ice sheet flow may increase sediment delivery from Greenland to its fjords and the nearby ocean. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Overeem, I. Hudson, B.D. Syvitski, J.P.M. Mikkelsen, A.B. Hasholt, B. Van Den Broeke, M.R. Noël, Brice Morlighem, M. |
author_facet |
Overeem, I. Hudson, B.D. Syvitski, J.P.M. Mikkelsen, A.B. Hasholt, B. Van Den Broeke, M.R. Noël, Brice Morlighem, M. |
author_sort |
Overeem, I. |
title |
Substantial export of suspended sediment to the global oceans from glacial erosion in Greenland |
title_short |
Substantial export of suspended sediment to the global oceans from glacial erosion in Greenland |
title_full |
Substantial export of suspended sediment to the global oceans from glacial erosion in Greenland |
title_fullStr |
Substantial export of suspended sediment to the global oceans from glacial erosion in Greenland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Substantial export of suspended sediment to the global oceans from glacial erosion in Greenland |
title_sort |
substantial export of suspended sediment to the global oceans from glacial erosion in greenland |
publisher |
Nature Publishing Group |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/301906 https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/301906/1/Overeem_Ngeo_2017.pdf https://doi.org/10.1038/NGEO3046 |
genre |
Greenland Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Greenland Ice Sheet |
op_source |
Nature Geoscience, 10 (11), 859 - 863 (2017-11) |
op_relation |
http://www.nature.com/articles/ngeo3046.pdf urn:issn:1752-0894 urn:issn:1752-0908 https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/301906 info:hdl:2268/301906 https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/301906/1/Overeem_Ngeo_2017.pdf doi:10.1038/NGEO3046 scopus-id:2-s2.0-85032668013 |
op_rights |
open access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/NGEO3046 |
container_title |
Nature Geoscience |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
11 |
container_start_page |
859 |
op_container_end_page |
863 |
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1796942942522310656 |