Increasing surface runoff from Greenland’s firn areas
At high elevations of ice sheets, melting snow generally percolates and refreezes, so does not contribute to the shrinking of the ice sheet. Here, we systematically map the runoff area of the Greenland ice sheet, using surface rivers visible on satellite imagery. Between 1985 and 2020, the maximum r...
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:7613031 2023-05-15T16:28:50+02:00 Increasing surface runoff from Greenland’s firn areas Tedstone, Andrew J. Machguth, Horst 2022-07 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7613031/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35811787 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01371-z en eng http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7613031/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35811787 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01371-z https://www.springernature.com/gp/open-research/policies/accepted-manuscript-termsUsers may view, print, copy, and download text and data-mine the content in such documents, for the purposes of academic research, subject always to the full Conditions of use: https://www.springernature.com/gp/open-research/policies/accepted-manuscript-terms Nat Clim Chang Article Text 2022 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01371-z 2022-12-18T01:29:16Z At high elevations of ice sheets, melting snow generally percolates and refreezes, so does not contribute to the shrinking of the ice sheet. Here, we systematically map the runoff area of the Greenland ice sheet, using surface rivers visible on satellite imagery. Between 1985 and 2020, the maximum runoff elevation rose by 58−329 metres, expanding the runoff area by 29% (-8%/+6%). Excess melt beyond the refreezing capacity of pores in snowfall has created near-impermeable ice slabs that sustain surface runoff even in cooler summers. We show that two surface mass balance models over-estimate the runoff area by 16−30%. Once restricted to our observed areas they indicate that 5−10% of recent runoff likely comes from the expanded runoff area. Runoff from higher elevations is sensitive to projected warming as further increases in the runoff limit will increase the runoff area disproportionately. Text Greenland Ice Sheet PubMed Central (PMC) Greenland Nature Climate Change 12 7 672 676 |
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Article Tedstone, Andrew J. Machguth, Horst Increasing surface runoff from Greenland’s firn areas |
topic_facet |
Article |
description |
At high elevations of ice sheets, melting snow generally percolates and refreezes, so does not contribute to the shrinking of the ice sheet. Here, we systematically map the runoff area of the Greenland ice sheet, using surface rivers visible on satellite imagery. Between 1985 and 2020, the maximum runoff elevation rose by 58−329 metres, expanding the runoff area by 29% (-8%/+6%). Excess melt beyond the refreezing capacity of pores in snowfall has created near-impermeable ice slabs that sustain surface runoff even in cooler summers. We show that two surface mass balance models over-estimate the runoff area by 16−30%. Once restricted to our observed areas they indicate that 5−10% of recent runoff likely comes from the expanded runoff area. Runoff from higher elevations is sensitive to projected warming as further increases in the runoff limit will increase the runoff area disproportionately. |
format |
Text |
author |
Tedstone, Andrew J. Machguth, Horst |
author_facet |
Tedstone, Andrew J. Machguth, Horst |
author_sort |
Tedstone, Andrew J. |
title |
Increasing surface runoff from Greenland’s firn areas |
title_short |
Increasing surface runoff from Greenland’s firn areas |
title_full |
Increasing surface runoff from Greenland’s firn areas |
title_fullStr |
Increasing surface runoff from Greenland’s firn areas |
title_full_unstemmed |
Increasing surface runoff from Greenland’s firn areas |
title_sort |
increasing surface runoff from greenland’s firn areas |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7613031/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35811787 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01371-z |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Greenland Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Greenland Ice Sheet |
op_source |
Nat Clim Chang |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7613031/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35811787 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01371-z |
op_rights |
https://www.springernature.com/gp/open-research/policies/accepted-manuscript-termsUsers may view, print, copy, and download text and data-mine the content in such documents, for the purposes of academic research, subject always to the full Conditions of use: https://www.springernature.com/gp/open-research/policies/accepted-manuscript-terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01371-z |
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Nature Climate Change |
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12 |
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7 |
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672 |
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676 |
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