Modelling the effect of submarine iceberg melting on glacier-adjacent water properties

Funding: This research has been supported by the Scottish Alliance for Geoscience, Environment and Society and the University of St Andrews (PhD studentship). The rate of ocean-driven retreat of Greenland's tidewater glaciers remains highly uncertain in predictions of future sea level rise, in...

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Published in:The Cryosphere
Main Authors: Davison, Benjamin, Cowton, Tom, Sole, Andrew, Cottier, Finlo, Nienow, Pete
Other Authors: University of St Andrews. Environmental Change Research Group, University of St Andrews. Bell-Edwards Geographic Data Institute, University of St Andrews. School of Geography & Sustainable Development
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2022
Subjects:
DAS
GE
QE
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10023/25161
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1181-2022
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spelling ftstandrewserep:oai:research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk:10023/25161 2023-07-02T03:32:37+02:00 Modelling the effect of submarine iceberg melting on glacier-adjacent water properties Davison, Benjamin Cowton, Tom Sole, Andrew Cottier, Finlo Nienow, Pete University of St Andrews. Environmental Change Research Group University of St Andrews. Bell-Edwards Geographic Data Institute University of St Andrews. School of Geography & Sustainable Development 2022-04-08T15:30:58Z application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/10023/25161 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1181-2022 eng eng The Cryosphere Davison , B , Cowton , T , Sole , A , Cottier , F & Nienow , P 2022 , ' Modelling the effect of submarine iceberg melting on glacier-adjacent water properties ' , The Cryosphere , vol. 16 , no. 4 , pp. 1181–1196 . https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1181-2022 1994-0416 PURE: 278789223 PURE UUID: d5ac0db4-d41c-45fb-82c7-8abfcb549d2a ORCID: /0000-0003-1668-7372/work/111210290 ORCID: /0000-0001-9483-2956/work/111210307 WOS: 000778880200001 Scopus: 85128302281 http://hdl.handle.net/10023/25161 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1181-2022 Copyright © Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. GE Environmental Sciences QE Geology DAS GE QE Journal article 2022 ftstandrewserep https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1181-2022 2023-06-13T18:26:56Z Funding: This research has been supported by the Scottish Alliance for Geoscience, Environment and Society and the University of St Andrews (PhD studentship). The rate of ocean-driven retreat of Greenland's tidewater glaciers remains highly uncertain in predictions of future sea level rise, in part due to poorly constrained glacier-adjacent water properties. Icebergs and their meltwater contributions are likely important modifiers of fjord water properties, yet their effect is poorly understood. Here, we use a 3-D ocean circulation model, coupled to a submarine iceberg melt module, to investigate the effect of submarine iceberg melting on glacier-adjacent water properties in a range of idealised settings. Submarine iceberg melting can modify glacier-adjacent water properties in three principal ways: (1) substantial cooling and modest freshening in the upper ∼50 m of the water column; (2) warming of Polar Water at intermediate depths due to iceberg melt-induced upwelling of warm Atlantic Water and; (3) warming of the deeper Atlantic Water layer when vertical temperature gradients through this layer are steep (due to vertical mixing of warm water at depth) but cooling of the Atlantic Water layer when vertical temperature gradients are shallow. The overall effect of iceberg melt is to make glacier-adjacent water properties more uniform with depth. When icebergs extend to, or below, the depth of a sill at the fjord mouth, they can cause cooling throughout the entire water column. All of these effects are more pronounced in fjords with higher iceberg concentrations and deeper iceberg keel depths. These iceberg melt-induced changes to glacier-adjacent water properties will reduce rates of glacier submarine melting near the surface, increase them in the Polar Water layer, and cause typically modest impacts in the Atlantic Water layer. These results characterise the important role of submarine iceberg melting in modifying ice sheet-ocean interaction and highlight the need to improve representations of fjord processes ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Ice Sheet The Cryosphere Tidewater University of St Andrews: Digital Research Repository The Cryosphere 16 4 1181 1196
institution Open Polar
collection University of St Andrews: Digital Research Repository
op_collection_id ftstandrewserep
language English
topic GE Environmental Sciences
QE Geology
DAS
GE
QE
spellingShingle GE Environmental Sciences
QE Geology
DAS
GE
QE
Davison, Benjamin
Cowton, Tom
Sole, Andrew
Cottier, Finlo
Nienow, Pete
Modelling the effect of submarine iceberg melting on glacier-adjacent water properties
topic_facet GE Environmental Sciences
QE Geology
DAS
GE
QE
description Funding: This research has been supported by the Scottish Alliance for Geoscience, Environment and Society and the University of St Andrews (PhD studentship). The rate of ocean-driven retreat of Greenland's tidewater glaciers remains highly uncertain in predictions of future sea level rise, in part due to poorly constrained glacier-adjacent water properties. Icebergs and their meltwater contributions are likely important modifiers of fjord water properties, yet their effect is poorly understood. Here, we use a 3-D ocean circulation model, coupled to a submarine iceberg melt module, to investigate the effect of submarine iceberg melting on glacier-adjacent water properties in a range of idealised settings. Submarine iceberg melting can modify glacier-adjacent water properties in three principal ways: (1) substantial cooling and modest freshening in the upper ∼50 m of the water column; (2) warming of Polar Water at intermediate depths due to iceberg melt-induced upwelling of warm Atlantic Water and; (3) warming of the deeper Atlantic Water layer when vertical temperature gradients through this layer are steep (due to vertical mixing of warm water at depth) but cooling of the Atlantic Water layer when vertical temperature gradients are shallow. The overall effect of iceberg melt is to make glacier-adjacent water properties more uniform with depth. When icebergs extend to, or below, the depth of a sill at the fjord mouth, they can cause cooling throughout the entire water column. All of these effects are more pronounced in fjords with higher iceberg concentrations and deeper iceberg keel depths. These iceberg melt-induced changes to glacier-adjacent water properties will reduce rates of glacier submarine melting near the surface, increase them in the Polar Water layer, and cause typically modest impacts in the Atlantic Water layer. These results characterise the important role of submarine iceberg melting in modifying ice sheet-ocean interaction and highlight the need to improve representations of fjord processes ...
author2 University of St Andrews. Environmental Change Research Group
University of St Andrews. Bell-Edwards Geographic Data Institute
University of St Andrews. School of Geography & Sustainable Development
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Davison, Benjamin
Cowton, Tom
Sole, Andrew
Cottier, Finlo
Nienow, Pete
author_facet Davison, Benjamin
Cowton, Tom
Sole, Andrew
Cottier, Finlo
Nienow, Pete
author_sort Davison, Benjamin
title Modelling the effect of submarine iceberg melting on glacier-adjacent water properties
title_short Modelling the effect of submarine iceberg melting on glacier-adjacent water properties
title_full Modelling the effect of submarine iceberg melting on glacier-adjacent water properties
title_fullStr Modelling the effect of submarine iceberg melting on glacier-adjacent water properties
title_full_unstemmed Modelling the effect of submarine iceberg melting on glacier-adjacent water properties
title_sort modelling the effect of submarine iceberg melting on glacier-adjacent water properties
publishDate 2022
url http://hdl.handle.net/10023/25161
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1181-2022
genre Ice Sheet
The Cryosphere
Tidewater
genre_facet Ice Sheet
The Cryosphere
Tidewater
op_relation The Cryosphere
Davison , B , Cowton , T , Sole , A , Cottier , F & Nienow , P 2022 , ' Modelling the effect of submarine iceberg melting on glacier-adjacent water properties ' , The Cryosphere , vol. 16 , no. 4 , pp. 1181–1196 . https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1181-2022
1994-0416
PURE: 278789223
PURE UUID: d5ac0db4-d41c-45fb-82c7-8abfcb549d2a
ORCID: /0000-0003-1668-7372/work/111210290
ORCID: /0000-0001-9483-2956/work/111210307
WOS: 000778880200001
Scopus: 85128302281
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/25161
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1181-2022
op_rights Copyright © Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
op_doi https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1181-2022
container_title The Cryosphere
container_volume 16
container_issue 4
container_start_page 1181
op_container_end_page 1196
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