Closing Greenland's Mass Balance: Frontal Ablation of Every Greenlandic Glacier From 2000 to 2020

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: Kochtitzky, William, Copland, Luke, King, Michalea, Hugonnet, Romain, Jiskoot, Hester, Morlighem, Mathieu, Millan, Romain, Khan, Shfaqat Abbas, Noël, Brice
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: American Geophysical Union (AGU) 2023
• Subjects: General Earth and Planetary Sciences; Geophysics; Physical; chemical; mathematical & earth Sciences; Earth sciences & physical geography; Physique; chimie; mathématiques & sciences de la terre; Sciences de la terre & géographie physique; glacier; Greenland; greenlandic; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/306388; https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/306388/1/Kochtitzky_2023_GRL.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1029/2023gl104095

peer reviewed In Greenland, 87% of the glacierized area terminates in the ocean, but mass lost at the ice‐ocean interface, or frontal ablation, has not yet been fully quantified. Using measurements and models we calculate frontal ablation of Greenland's 213 outlet and 537 peripheral glaciers and find a total frontal ablation of 481.8 ± 24.0 for 2000–2010 and 510.2 ± 18.6 Gt a−1 for 2010–2020. Ice discharge accounted for ∼90% of frontal ablation during both periods, while mass loss due to terminus retreat comprised the remainder. Only 16 glaciers were responsible for the majority (>50%) of frontal ablation from 2010 to 2020. These estimates, along with the climatic‐basal balance, allow for a more complete accounting of Greenland Ice Sheet and peripheral glacier mass balance. In total, Greenland accounted for ∼90% of Northern Hemisphere frontal ablation for 2000–2010 and 2010–2020.