Volume and velocity changes at Mittivakkat Gletscher, southeast Greenland
We document changes for Mittivakkat Gletscher, the peripheral glacier in Greenland with the longest field-based observed mass-balance and surface velocity time series. Between 1986 and 2011, this glacier changed by -15 in mean ice thickness and -30 in volume. We attribute these changes to summer war...
| Published in: | Journal of Glaciology |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | unknown |
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Cambridge University Press (CUP) for International Glaciological Society
2013
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://eprints.lincoln.ac.uk/id/eprint/26017/ https://doi.org/10.3189/2013JoG13J017 |
| Summary: | We document changes for Mittivakkat Gletscher, the peripheral glacier in Greenland with the longest field-based observed mass-balance and surface velocity time series. Between 1986 and 2011, this glacier changed by -15 in mean ice thickness and -30 in volume. We attribute these changes to summer warming and lower winter snow accumulation. Vertical strain compensated for �60 of the elevation change due to surface mass balance (SMB) in the lower part, and �25 in the upper part. The annual mean ice surface velocity changed by -30, which can be fully explained by the dynamic effect of ice thinning, within uncertainty. Mittivakkat Gletscher summer surface velocities were on average 50-60 above winter background values, and up to 160 higher during peak velocity events. Peak velocity events were accompanied by uplift of a few centimeters. |
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