Large-scale changes in Greenland outlet glacier dynamics triggered at the terminus.
The recent marked retreat, thinning and acceleration of most of Greenland's outlet glaciers south of 70° N has increased concerns over Greenland's contribution to future sea level rise1, 2, 3, 4, 5. These dynamic changes seem to be parallel to the warming trend in Greenland, but the mechan...
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Online Access: | http://dro.dur.ac.uk/6793/ https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo394 |
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ftunivdurham:oai:dro.dur.ac.uk.OAI2:6793 2023-05-15T16:20:59+02:00 Large-scale changes in Greenland outlet glacier dynamics triggered at the terminus. Nick, F. M. Vieli, A. Howat, I. M. Joughin, I. 2009-02-01 http://dro.dur.ac.uk/6793/ https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo394 unknown Nature Publishing Group dro:6793 issn:1752-0894 issn: 1752-0908 doi:10.1038/ngeo394 http://dro.dur.ac.uk/6793/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ngeo394 Nature geoscience, 2009, Vol.2(2), pp.110-114 [Peer Reviewed Journal] Article PeerReviewed 2009 ftunivdurham https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo394 2020-05-28T22:27:50Z The recent marked retreat, thinning and acceleration of most of Greenland's outlet glaciers south of 70° N has increased concerns over Greenland's contribution to future sea level rise1, 2, 3, 4, 5. These dynamic changes seem to be parallel to the warming trend in Greenland, but the mechanisms that link climate and ice dynamics are poorly understood, and current numerical models of ice sheets do not simulate these changes realistically6, 7, 8. Uncertainties in the predictions of mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet have therefore been highlighted as one of the main limitations in forecasting future sea levels9. Here we present a numerical ice-flow model that reproduces the observed marked changes in Helheim Glacier, one of Greenland's largest outlet glaciers. Our simulation shows that the ice acceleration, thinning and retreat begin at the calving terminus and then propagate upstream through dynamic coupling along the glacier. We find that these changes are unlikely to be caused by basal lubrication through surface melt propagating to the glacier bed. We conclude that tidewater outlet glaciers adjust extremely rapidly to changing boundary conditions at the calving terminus. Our results imply that the recent rates of mass loss in Greenland's outlet glaciers are transient and should not be extrapolated into the future. Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier Greenland Ice Sheet Tidewater Durham University: Durham Research Online Greenland Nature Geoscience 2 2 110 114 |
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Durham University: Durham Research Online |
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The recent marked retreat, thinning and acceleration of most of Greenland's outlet glaciers south of 70° N has increased concerns over Greenland's contribution to future sea level rise1, 2, 3, 4, 5. These dynamic changes seem to be parallel to the warming trend in Greenland, but the mechanisms that link climate and ice dynamics are poorly understood, and current numerical models of ice sheets do not simulate these changes realistically6, 7, 8. Uncertainties in the predictions of mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet have therefore been highlighted as one of the main limitations in forecasting future sea levels9. Here we present a numerical ice-flow model that reproduces the observed marked changes in Helheim Glacier, one of Greenland's largest outlet glaciers. Our simulation shows that the ice acceleration, thinning and retreat begin at the calving terminus and then propagate upstream through dynamic coupling along the glacier. We find that these changes are unlikely to be caused by basal lubrication through surface melt propagating to the glacier bed. We conclude that tidewater outlet glaciers adjust extremely rapidly to changing boundary conditions at the calving terminus. Our results imply that the recent rates of mass loss in Greenland's outlet glaciers are transient and should not be extrapolated into the future. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Nick, F. M. Vieli, A. Howat, I. M. Joughin, I. |
spellingShingle |
Nick, F. M. Vieli, A. Howat, I. M. Joughin, I. Large-scale changes in Greenland outlet glacier dynamics triggered at the terminus. |
author_facet |
Nick, F. M. Vieli, A. Howat, I. M. Joughin, I. |
author_sort |
Nick, F. M. |
title |
Large-scale changes in Greenland outlet glacier dynamics triggered at the terminus. |
title_short |
Large-scale changes in Greenland outlet glacier dynamics triggered at the terminus. |
title_full |
Large-scale changes in Greenland outlet glacier dynamics triggered at the terminus. |
title_fullStr |
Large-scale changes in Greenland outlet glacier dynamics triggered at the terminus. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Large-scale changes in Greenland outlet glacier dynamics triggered at the terminus. |
title_sort |
large-scale changes in greenland outlet glacier dynamics triggered at the terminus. |
publisher |
Nature Publishing Group |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
http://dro.dur.ac.uk/6793/ https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo394 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
glacier Greenland Ice Sheet Tidewater |
genre_facet |
glacier Greenland Ice Sheet Tidewater |
op_source |
Nature geoscience, 2009, Vol.2(2), pp.110-114 [Peer Reviewed Journal] |
op_relation |
dro:6793 issn:1752-0894 issn: 1752-0908 doi:10.1038/ngeo394 http://dro.dur.ac.uk/6793/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ngeo394 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo394 |
container_title |
Nature Geoscience |
container_volume |
2 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
110 |
op_container_end_page |
114 |
_version_ |
1766009004724584448 |