Possible impacts of a 1000 km long hypothetical subglacial river valley towards Petermann glacier in northern Greenland
Abstract. Greenland basal topographic data show a segmented valley extending from Petermann Fjord into the centre of Greenland; however, the locations of radar scan lines, used to create the bedrock topography data, indicate that valley segmentation is due to data interpolation. Therefore, as a thou...
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Copernicus Publications under license by EGU – European Geosciences Union GmbH
2020
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ftoslouniv:oai:www.duo.uio.no:10852/83380 2024-09-30T14:35:23+00:00 Possible impacts of a 1000 km long hypothetical subglacial river valley towards Petermann glacier in northern Greenland Chambers, Christopher Greve, Ralf Altena, Bas Lefeuvre, Pierre-Marie 2020-12-03T08:46:01Z http://hdl.handle.net/10852/83380 http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-86112 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3747-2020 EN eng Copernicus Publications under license by EGU – European Geosciences Union GmbH http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-86112 Chambers, Christopher Greve, Ralf Altena, Bas Lefeuvre, Pierre-Marie . Possible impacts of a 1000 km long hypothetical subglacial river valley towards Petermann glacier in northern Greenland. The Cryosphere. 2020, 14(11), 3747-3759 http://hdl.handle.net/10852/83380 1855597 info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.jtitle=The Cryosphere&rft.volume=14&rft.spage=3747&rft.date=2020 The Cryosphere 14 11 3747 3759 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3747-2020 URN:NBN:no-86112 Fulltext https://www.duo.uio.no/bitstream/handle/10852/83380/1/tc-14-3747-2020.pdf Attribution 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 1994-0416 Journal article Tidsskriftartikkel Peer reviewed PublishedVersion 2020 ftoslouniv https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3747-2020 2024-09-12T05:44:03Z Abstract. Greenland basal topographic data show a segmented valley extending from Petermann Fjord into the centre of Greenland; however, the locations of radar scan lines, used to create the bedrock topography data, indicate that valley segmentation is due to data interpolation. Therefore, as a thought experiment, simulations where the valley is opened are used to investigate its effects on basal water movement and distribution. The simulations indicate that the opening of this valley can result in an uninterrupted water pathway from the interior to Petermann Fjord. Along its length, the path of the valley progresses gradually down an ice surface slope, causing a lowering of ice overburden pressure that could enable water flow along its path. The fact that the valley base appears to be relatively flat and follows a path near the interior ice divide that roughly intersects the east and west basal hydrological basins is presented as evidence that its present day form may have developed in conjunction with an overlying ice sheet. Experiments where basal melting is increased solely within the deep interior near the known large area of basal melting result in an increase in the flux of water northwards along the entire valley. The results are consistent with a long subglacial river; however, considerable uncertainty remains over aspects such as whether adequate water is available at the bed, whether water escapes from the valley or is refrozen, and over what form a hydrological conduit could take along the valley base. Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier Greenland Ice Sheet Petermann Fjord Petermann glacier The Cryosphere Universitet i Oslo: Digitale utgivelser ved UiO (DUO) Greenland Petermann Fjord ENVELOPE(-61.500,-61.500,81.167,81.167) The Cryosphere 14 11 3747 3759 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Universitet i Oslo: Digitale utgivelser ved UiO (DUO) |
op_collection_id |
ftoslouniv |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract. Greenland basal topographic data show a segmented valley extending from Petermann Fjord into the centre of Greenland; however, the locations of radar scan lines, used to create the bedrock topography data, indicate that valley segmentation is due to data interpolation. Therefore, as a thought experiment, simulations where the valley is opened are used to investigate its effects on basal water movement and distribution. The simulations indicate that the opening of this valley can result in an uninterrupted water pathway from the interior to Petermann Fjord. Along its length, the path of the valley progresses gradually down an ice surface slope, causing a lowering of ice overburden pressure that could enable water flow along its path. The fact that the valley base appears to be relatively flat and follows a path near the interior ice divide that roughly intersects the east and west basal hydrological basins is presented as evidence that its present day form may have developed in conjunction with an overlying ice sheet. Experiments where basal melting is increased solely within the deep interior near the known large area of basal melting result in an increase in the flux of water northwards along the entire valley. The results are consistent with a long subglacial river; however, considerable uncertainty remains over aspects such as whether adequate water is available at the bed, whether water escapes from the valley or is refrozen, and over what form a hydrological conduit could take along the valley base. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Chambers, Christopher Greve, Ralf Altena, Bas Lefeuvre, Pierre-Marie |
spellingShingle |
Chambers, Christopher Greve, Ralf Altena, Bas Lefeuvre, Pierre-Marie Possible impacts of a 1000 km long hypothetical subglacial river valley towards Petermann glacier in northern Greenland |
author_facet |
Chambers, Christopher Greve, Ralf Altena, Bas Lefeuvre, Pierre-Marie |
author_sort |
Chambers, Christopher |
title |
Possible impacts of a 1000 km long hypothetical subglacial river valley towards Petermann glacier in northern Greenland |
title_short |
Possible impacts of a 1000 km long hypothetical subglacial river valley towards Petermann glacier in northern Greenland |
title_full |
Possible impacts of a 1000 km long hypothetical subglacial river valley towards Petermann glacier in northern Greenland |
title_fullStr |
Possible impacts of a 1000 km long hypothetical subglacial river valley towards Petermann glacier in northern Greenland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Possible impacts of a 1000 km long hypothetical subglacial river valley towards Petermann glacier in northern Greenland |
title_sort |
possible impacts of a 1000 km long hypothetical subglacial river valley towards petermann glacier in northern greenland |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications under license by EGU – European Geosciences Union GmbH |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10852/83380 http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-86112 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3747-2020 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-61.500,-61.500,81.167,81.167) |
geographic |
Greenland Petermann Fjord |
geographic_facet |
Greenland Petermann Fjord |
genre |
glacier Greenland Ice Sheet Petermann Fjord Petermann glacier The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
glacier Greenland Ice Sheet Petermann Fjord Petermann glacier The Cryosphere |
op_source |
1994-0416 |
op_relation |
http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-86112 Chambers, Christopher Greve, Ralf Altena, Bas Lefeuvre, Pierre-Marie . Possible impacts of a 1000 km long hypothetical subglacial river valley towards Petermann glacier in northern Greenland. The Cryosphere. 2020, 14(11), 3747-3759 http://hdl.handle.net/10852/83380 1855597 info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.jtitle=The Cryosphere&rft.volume=14&rft.spage=3747&rft.date=2020 The Cryosphere 14 11 3747 3759 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3747-2020 URN:NBN:no-86112 Fulltext https://www.duo.uio.no/bitstream/handle/10852/83380/1/tc-14-3747-2020.pdf |
op_rights |
Attribution 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3747-2020 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
14 |
container_issue |
11 |
container_start_page |
3747 |
op_container_end_page |
3759 |
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1811638675605291008 |