Glacier dynamics over the last quarter of a century at Helheim, Kangerdlugssuaq and 14 other major Greenland outlet glaciers
The Greenland ice sheet is experiencing increasing rates of mass loss, the majority of which results from changes in discharge from tidewater glaciers. Both atmospheric and ocean drivers have been implicated in these dynamic changes, but understanding the nature of the response has been hampered by...
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:doaj.org/article:4b6030735a45451293647edb92edf23f 2023-05-15T16:20:55+02:00 Glacier dynamics over the last quarter of a century at Helheim, Kangerdlugssuaq and 14 other major Greenland outlet glaciers S. L. Bevan A. J. Luckman T. Murray 2012-09-01 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-6-923-2012 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/6/923/2012/tc-6-923-2012.pdf https://doaj.org/article/4b6030735a45451293647edb92edf23f en eng Copernicus Publications doi:10.5194/tc-6-923-2012 1994-0416 1994-0424 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/6/923/2012/tc-6-923-2012.pdf https://doaj.org/article/4b6030735a45451293647edb92edf23f undefined The Cryosphere, Vol 6, Iss 5, Pp 923-937 (2012) geo envir Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2012 fttriple https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-6-923-2012 2023-01-22T17:50:00Z The Greenland ice sheet is experiencing increasing rates of mass loss, the majority of which results from changes in discharge from tidewater glaciers. Both atmospheric and ocean drivers have been implicated in these dynamic changes, but understanding the nature of the response has been hampered by the lack of measurements of glacier flow rates predating the recent period of warming. Here, using Landsat-5 data from 1985 onwards, we extend back in time the record of surface velocities and ice-front position for 16 of Greenland's fastest-flowing tidewater glaciers, and compare these to more recent data from Landsat-7 and satellite-borne synthetic-aperture radar. Climate re-analysis data and sea surface temperatures from 1982 show that since 1995 most of Greenland and its surrounding oceans have experienced significant overall warming, and a switch to a warming trend. During the period from 1985 to 1995 when Greenland and the surrounding oceans were not warming, major tidewater outlet glaciers around Greenland, including Kangerdlugssuaq and Helheim, were dynamically stable. Since the mid-1990s, glacier discharge has consistently been both greater and more variable. Together, these observations support the hypothesis that recent dynamic change is a rapid response to climate forcing. Both air and ocean temperatures in this region are predicted to continue to warm, and will therefore likely drive further change in outlet glacier discharge. Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier Greenland Ice Sheet The Cryosphere Tidewater Unknown Greenland The Cryosphere 6 5 923 937 |
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geo envir S. L. Bevan A. J. Luckman T. Murray Glacier dynamics over the last quarter of a century at Helheim, Kangerdlugssuaq and 14 other major Greenland outlet glaciers |
topic_facet |
geo envir |
description |
The Greenland ice sheet is experiencing increasing rates of mass loss, the majority of which results from changes in discharge from tidewater glaciers. Both atmospheric and ocean drivers have been implicated in these dynamic changes, but understanding the nature of the response has been hampered by the lack of measurements of glacier flow rates predating the recent period of warming. Here, using Landsat-5 data from 1985 onwards, we extend back in time the record of surface velocities and ice-front position for 16 of Greenland's fastest-flowing tidewater glaciers, and compare these to more recent data from Landsat-7 and satellite-borne synthetic-aperture radar. Climate re-analysis data and sea surface temperatures from 1982 show that since 1995 most of Greenland and its surrounding oceans have experienced significant overall warming, and a switch to a warming trend. During the period from 1985 to 1995 when Greenland and the surrounding oceans were not warming, major tidewater outlet glaciers around Greenland, including Kangerdlugssuaq and Helheim, were dynamically stable. Since the mid-1990s, glacier discharge has consistently been both greater and more variable. Together, these observations support the hypothesis that recent dynamic change is a rapid response to climate forcing. Both air and ocean temperatures in this region are predicted to continue to warm, and will therefore likely drive further change in outlet glacier discharge. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
S. L. Bevan A. J. Luckman T. Murray |
author_facet |
S. L. Bevan A. J. Luckman T. Murray |
author_sort |
S. L. Bevan |
title |
Glacier dynamics over the last quarter of a century at Helheim, Kangerdlugssuaq and 14 other major Greenland outlet glaciers |
title_short |
Glacier dynamics over the last quarter of a century at Helheim, Kangerdlugssuaq and 14 other major Greenland outlet glaciers |
title_full |
Glacier dynamics over the last quarter of a century at Helheim, Kangerdlugssuaq and 14 other major Greenland outlet glaciers |
title_fullStr |
Glacier dynamics over the last quarter of a century at Helheim, Kangerdlugssuaq and 14 other major Greenland outlet glaciers |
title_full_unstemmed |
Glacier dynamics over the last quarter of a century at Helheim, Kangerdlugssuaq and 14 other major Greenland outlet glaciers |
title_sort |
glacier dynamics over the last quarter of a century at helheim, kangerdlugssuaq and 14 other major greenland outlet glaciers |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-6-923-2012 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/6/923/2012/tc-6-923-2012.pdf https://doaj.org/article/4b6030735a45451293647edb92edf23f |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
glacier Greenland Ice Sheet The Cryosphere Tidewater |
genre_facet |
glacier Greenland Ice Sheet The Cryosphere Tidewater |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 6, Iss 5, Pp 923-937 (2012) |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/tc-6-923-2012 1994-0416 1994-0424 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/6/923/2012/tc-6-923-2012.pdf https://doaj.org/article/4b6030735a45451293647edb92edf23f |
op_rights |
undefined |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-6-923-2012 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
6 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
923 |
op_container_end_page |
937 |
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1766008938430464000 |