Assessing the catastrophic break-up of Briksdalsbreen, Norway, associated with rapid climate change
Recent research has raised concerns about the potential influence of rapid climate change on the stability of major ice sheets. The behaviour of glaciers is determined largely by the processes and conditions operating at their base. Technological advances have allowed these factors to be examined an...
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ftubristolcris:oai:research-information.bris.ac.uk:publications/b905e544-08fc-4222-b62d-3e5505be73ba 2024-01-28T10:05:55+01:00 Assessing the catastrophic break-up of Briksdalsbreen, Norway, associated with rapid climate change Hart, Jane K. Rose, Kathryn C. Waller, Richard I. Vaughan-Hirsch, David Martinez, Kirk 2011-05 https://hdl.handle.net/1983/b905e544-08fc-4222-b62d-3e5505be73ba https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/b905e544-08fc-4222-b62d-3e5505be73ba https://doi.org/10.1144/0016-76492010-024 eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess Hart , J K , Rose , K C , Waller , R I , Vaughan-Hirsch , D & Martinez , K 2011 , ' Assessing the catastrophic break-up of Briksdalsbreen, Norway, associated with rapid climate change ' , Journal of the Geological Society , vol. 168 , no. 3 , pp. 673-688 . https://doi.org/10.1144/0016-76492010-024 GREENLAND ICE-SHEET GROUND-PENETRATING RADAR SUBGLACIAL DRAINAGE SYSTEM NORTH-ATLANTIC OSCILLATION WESTERN NORWAY TEMPERATE GLACIER WATER-CONTENT NEW-ZEALAND ENGLACIAL DRAINAGE CALVING GLACIERS article 2011 ftubristolcris https://doi.org/10.1144/0016-76492010-024 2024-01-04T23:40:16Z Recent research has raised concerns about the potential influence of rapid climate change on the stability of major ice sheets. The behaviour of glaciers is determined largely by the processes and conditions operating at their base. Technological advances have allowed these factors to be examined and their contribution to ice flow constrained. This study investigated the rapid disintegration of an aquatic based Norwegian glacier, through the study of boreholes, video, ground-penetrating radar, differential global positioning system, bathymetry and Glacsweb wireless probes. Briksdalsbreen retreated dramatically between 2000 and 2007, with c. 56 x 10(5) m(3) of ice lost from the glacier tongue, equivalent to a rate of 70 m a(-1). This was due to the combined effect of higher summer temperatures, decreased precipitation (resulting from a negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation) and increased fracturing of the glacier tongue. The enlargement of a proglacial lake played a key role in Brikdalsbreen's rapid retreat, allowing calving events and promoting crevassing and fluctuating water contents at the glacier margin. We suggest that hydro-fracturing was the dominant mechanism responsible for generating more crevasses each year, which facilitated the development of an efficient englacial drainage system. This fed increasing quantities of water to the bed, where it was stored in subglacial cavities and transferred through a distributed ('slow') drainage system. However, despite this increase in subglacial water content, ice velocities remained constant during the break-up. Comparisons are made between the processes observed at Briksdalsbreen and those associated with the acceleration and rapid retreat of Greenland's tidewater glaciers. Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier glacier Greenland Ice Sheet North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation Tidewater University of Bristol: Bristol Research Greenland New Zealand Norway Journal of the Geological Society 168 3 673 688 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Bristol: Bristol Research |
op_collection_id |
ftubristolcris |
language |
English |
topic |
GREENLAND ICE-SHEET GROUND-PENETRATING RADAR SUBGLACIAL DRAINAGE SYSTEM NORTH-ATLANTIC OSCILLATION WESTERN NORWAY TEMPERATE GLACIER WATER-CONTENT NEW-ZEALAND ENGLACIAL DRAINAGE CALVING GLACIERS |
spellingShingle |
GREENLAND ICE-SHEET GROUND-PENETRATING RADAR SUBGLACIAL DRAINAGE SYSTEM NORTH-ATLANTIC OSCILLATION WESTERN NORWAY TEMPERATE GLACIER WATER-CONTENT NEW-ZEALAND ENGLACIAL DRAINAGE CALVING GLACIERS Hart, Jane K. Rose, Kathryn C. Waller, Richard I. Vaughan-Hirsch, David Martinez, Kirk Assessing the catastrophic break-up of Briksdalsbreen, Norway, associated with rapid climate change |
topic_facet |
GREENLAND ICE-SHEET GROUND-PENETRATING RADAR SUBGLACIAL DRAINAGE SYSTEM NORTH-ATLANTIC OSCILLATION WESTERN NORWAY TEMPERATE GLACIER WATER-CONTENT NEW-ZEALAND ENGLACIAL DRAINAGE CALVING GLACIERS |
description |
Recent research has raised concerns about the potential influence of rapid climate change on the stability of major ice sheets. The behaviour of glaciers is determined largely by the processes and conditions operating at their base. Technological advances have allowed these factors to be examined and their contribution to ice flow constrained. This study investigated the rapid disintegration of an aquatic based Norwegian glacier, through the study of boreholes, video, ground-penetrating radar, differential global positioning system, bathymetry and Glacsweb wireless probes. Briksdalsbreen retreated dramatically between 2000 and 2007, with c. 56 x 10(5) m(3) of ice lost from the glacier tongue, equivalent to a rate of 70 m a(-1). This was due to the combined effect of higher summer temperatures, decreased precipitation (resulting from a negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation) and increased fracturing of the glacier tongue. The enlargement of a proglacial lake played a key role in Brikdalsbreen's rapid retreat, allowing calving events and promoting crevassing and fluctuating water contents at the glacier margin. We suggest that hydro-fracturing was the dominant mechanism responsible for generating more crevasses each year, which facilitated the development of an efficient englacial drainage system. This fed increasing quantities of water to the bed, where it was stored in subglacial cavities and transferred through a distributed ('slow') drainage system. However, despite this increase in subglacial water content, ice velocities remained constant during the break-up. Comparisons are made between the processes observed at Briksdalsbreen and those associated with the acceleration and rapid retreat of Greenland's tidewater glaciers. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Hart, Jane K. Rose, Kathryn C. Waller, Richard I. Vaughan-Hirsch, David Martinez, Kirk |
author_facet |
Hart, Jane K. Rose, Kathryn C. Waller, Richard I. Vaughan-Hirsch, David Martinez, Kirk |
author_sort |
Hart, Jane K. |
title |
Assessing the catastrophic break-up of Briksdalsbreen, Norway, associated with rapid climate change |
title_short |
Assessing the catastrophic break-up of Briksdalsbreen, Norway, associated with rapid climate change |
title_full |
Assessing the catastrophic break-up of Briksdalsbreen, Norway, associated with rapid climate change |
title_fullStr |
Assessing the catastrophic break-up of Briksdalsbreen, Norway, associated with rapid climate change |
title_full_unstemmed |
Assessing the catastrophic break-up of Briksdalsbreen, Norway, associated with rapid climate change |
title_sort |
assessing the catastrophic break-up of briksdalsbreen, norway, associated with rapid climate change |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/1983/b905e544-08fc-4222-b62d-3e5505be73ba https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/b905e544-08fc-4222-b62d-3e5505be73ba https://doi.org/10.1144/0016-76492010-024 |
geographic |
Greenland New Zealand Norway |
geographic_facet |
Greenland New Zealand Norway |
genre |
glacier glacier Greenland Ice Sheet North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation Tidewater |
genre_facet |
glacier glacier Greenland Ice Sheet North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation Tidewater |
op_source |
Hart , J K , Rose , K C , Waller , R I , Vaughan-Hirsch , D & Martinez , K 2011 , ' Assessing the catastrophic break-up of Briksdalsbreen, Norway, associated with rapid climate change ' , Journal of the Geological Society , vol. 168 , no. 3 , pp. 673-688 . https://doi.org/10.1144/0016-76492010-024 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1144/0016-76492010-024 |
container_title |
Journal of the Geological Society |
container_volume |
168 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
673 |
op_container_end_page |
688 |
_version_ |
1789332473209946112 |