Greenland meltwater storage in firn limited by near-surface ice formation
Approximately half of Greenland's current annual mass loss is attributed to runoff from surface melt(1). At higher elevations, however, melt does not necessarily equal runoff, because meltwater can refreeze in the porous near-surface snow and firn2. Two recent studies suggest that all(3) or mos...
Published in: | Nature Climate Change |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2016
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/11370/8a3aca2a-06a1-479d-80b2-43625fe736c1 https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/8a3aca2a-06a1-479d-80b2-43625fe736c1 https://doi.org/10.1038/NCLIMATE2899 https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/78982964/Greenland_meltwater_storage_in_firn_limited_by_near_surface_ice_formation.pdf |
id |
ftunigroningenpu:oai:pure.rug.nl:publications/8a3aca2a-06a1-479d-80b2-43625fe736c1 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftunigroningenpu:oai:pure.rug.nl:publications/8a3aca2a-06a1-479d-80b2-43625fe736c1 2024-06-23T07:53:17+00:00 Greenland meltwater storage in firn limited by near-surface ice formation Machguth, Horst MacFerrin, Mike van As, Dirk Box, Jason E. Charalampidis, Charalampos Colgan, William Fausto, Robert S. Meijer, Harro A. J. Mosley-Thompson, Ellen van de Wal, Roderik S. W. 2016-04 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/11370/8a3aca2a-06a1-479d-80b2-43625fe736c1 https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/8a3aca2a-06a1-479d-80b2-43625fe736c1 https://doi.org/10.1038/NCLIMATE2899 https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/78982964/Greenland_meltwater_storage_in_firn_limited_by_near_surface_ice_formation.pdf eng eng https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/8a3aca2a-06a1-479d-80b2-43625fe736c1 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Machguth , H , MacFerrin , M , van As , D , Box , J E , Charalampidis , C , Colgan , W , Fausto , R S , Meijer , H A J , Mosley-Thompson , E & van de Wal , R S W 2016 , ' Greenland meltwater storage in firn limited by near-surface ice formation ' , Nature climate change , vol. 6 , no. 4 , pp. 390-393 . https://doi.org/10.1038/NCLIMATE2899 BALANCE OBSERVATIONS WEST GREENLAND SHEET ACCUMULATION DRAINAGE NUNAVUT CANADA MODEL CAP article 2016 ftunigroningenpu https://doi.org/10.1038/NCLIMATE2899 2024-06-10T16:20:11Z Approximately half of Greenland's current annual mass loss is attributed to runoff from surface melt(1). At higher elevations, however, melt does not necessarily equal runoff, because meltwater can refreeze in the porous near-surface snow and firn2. Two recent studies suggest that all(3) or most(3,4) of Greenland's firn pore space is available for meltwater storage, making the firn an important buffer against contribution to sea level rise for decades to come(3). Here, we employ in situ observations and historical legacy data to demonstrate that surface runoff begins to dominate over meltwater storage well before firn pore space has been completely filled. Our observations frame the recent exceptional melt summers in 2010 and 2012 (refs 5,6), revealing significant changes in firn structure at different elevations caused by successive intensive melt events. In the upper regions (more than similar to 1,900m above sea level), firn has undergone substantial densification, while at lower elevations, where melt is most abundant, porous firn has lost most of its capability to retain meltwater. Here, the formation of near-surface ice layers renders deep pore space difficult to access, forcing meltwater to enter an efficient(7) surface discharge system and intensifying ice sheet mass loss earlier than previously suggested(3). Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Ice Sheet Nunavut University of Groningen research database Canada Greenland Nunavut Nature Climate Change 6 4 390 393 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Groningen research database |
op_collection_id |
ftunigroningenpu |
language |
English |
topic |
BALANCE OBSERVATIONS WEST GREENLAND SHEET ACCUMULATION DRAINAGE NUNAVUT CANADA MODEL CAP |
spellingShingle |
BALANCE OBSERVATIONS WEST GREENLAND SHEET ACCUMULATION DRAINAGE NUNAVUT CANADA MODEL CAP Machguth, Horst MacFerrin, Mike van As, Dirk Box, Jason E. Charalampidis, Charalampos Colgan, William Fausto, Robert S. Meijer, Harro A. J. Mosley-Thompson, Ellen van de Wal, Roderik S. W. Greenland meltwater storage in firn limited by near-surface ice formation |
topic_facet |
BALANCE OBSERVATIONS WEST GREENLAND SHEET ACCUMULATION DRAINAGE NUNAVUT CANADA MODEL CAP |
description |
Approximately half of Greenland's current annual mass loss is attributed to runoff from surface melt(1). At higher elevations, however, melt does not necessarily equal runoff, because meltwater can refreeze in the porous near-surface snow and firn2. Two recent studies suggest that all(3) or most(3,4) of Greenland's firn pore space is available for meltwater storage, making the firn an important buffer against contribution to sea level rise for decades to come(3). Here, we employ in situ observations and historical legacy data to demonstrate that surface runoff begins to dominate over meltwater storage well before firn pore space has been completely filled. Our observations frame the recent exceptional melt summers in 2010 and 2012 (refs 5,6), revealing significant changes in firn structure at different elevations caused by successive intensive melt events. In the upper regions (more than similar to 1,900m above sea level), firn has undergone substantial densification, while at lower elevations, where melt is most abundant, porous firn has lost most of its capability to retain meltwater. Here, the formation of near-surface ice layers renders deep pore space difficult to access, forcing meltwater to enter an efficient(7) surface discharge system and intensifying ice sheet mass loss earlier than previously suggested(3). |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Machguth, Horst MacFerrin, Mike van As, Dirk Box, Jason E. Charalampidis, Charalampos Colgan, William Fausto, Robert S. Meijer, Harro A. J. Mosley-Thompson, Ellen van de Wal, Roderik S. W. |
author_facet |
Machguth, Horst MacFerrin, Mike van As, Dirk Box, Jason E. Charalampidis, Charalampos Colgan, William Fausto, Robert S. Meijer, Harro A. J. Mosley-Thompson, Ellen van de Wal, Roderik S. W. |
author_sort |
Machguth, Horst |
title |
Greenland meltwater storage in firn limited by near-surface ice formation |
title_short |
Greenland meltwater storage in firn limited by near-surface ice formation |
title_full |
Greenland meltwater storage in firn limited by near-surface ice formation |
title_fullStr |
Greenland meltwater storage in firn limited by near-surface ice formation |
title_full_unstemmed |
Greenland meltwater storage in firn limited by near-surface ice formation |
title_sort |
greenland meltwater storage in firn limited by near-surface ice formation |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/11370/8a3aca2a-06a1-479d-80b2-43625fe736c1 https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/8a3aca2a-06a1-479d-80b2-43625fe736c1 https://doi.org/10.1038/NCLIMATE2899 https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/78982964/Greenland_meltwater_storage_in_firn_limited_by_near_surface_ice_formation.pdf |
geographic |
Canada Greenland Nunavut |
geographic_facet |
Canada Greenland Nunavut |
genre |
Greenland Ice Sheet Nunavut |
genre_facet |
Greenland Ice Sheet Nunavut |
op_source |
Machguth , H , MacFerrin , M , van As , D , Box , J E , Charalampidis , C , Colgan , W , Fausto , R S , Meijer , H A J , Mosley-Thompson , E & van de Wal , R S W 2016 , ' Greenland meltwater storage in firn limited by near-surface ice formation ' , Nature climate change , vol. 6 , no. 4 , pp. 390-393 . https://doi.org/10.1038/NCLIMATE2899 |
op_relation |
https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/8a3aca2a-06a1-479d-80b2-43625fe736c1 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/NCLIMATE2899 |
container_title |
Nature Climate Change |
container_volume |
6 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
390 |
op_container_end_page |
393 |
_version_ |
1802644865281949696 |