Distributed subglacial discharge drives significant submarine melt at a Greenland tidewater glacier
Submarine melt can account for substantial mass loss at tidewater glacier termini. However, the processes controlling submarine melt are poorly understood due to limited observations of submarine termini. Here at a tidewater glacier in central West Greenland, we identify subglacial discharge outlets...
Published in: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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American Geophysical Union (AGU)
2016
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1808/22254 https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL065806 |
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ftunivkansas:oai:kuscholarworks.ku.edu:1808/22254 2023-05-15T16:21:02+02:00 Distributed subglacial discharge drives significant submarine melt at a Greenland tidewater glacier Fried, Mason J. Catania, Ginny A. Bartholomaus, Timothy C. Duncan, D. Davis, M. Stearns, Leigh A. Nash, Jonathan D. Shroyer, Emily L. Sutherland, David A. 2016-12-16T20:43:01Z http://hdl.handle.net/1808/22254 https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL065806 unknown American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fried, M. J., G. A. Catania, T. C. Bartholomaus, D. Duncan, M. Davis, L. A. Stearns, J. Nash, E. Shroyer, and D. Sutherland (2015), Distributed subglacial discharge drives significant submarine melt at a Greenland tidewater glacier, Geophys. Res. Lett., 42, 9328–9336, doi:10.1002/2015GL065806. http://hdl.handle.net/1808/22254 doi:10.1002/2015GL065806 ©2015. American Geophysical Union, All Rights Reserved. openAccess Glaciology Submarine Melt Subglacial Hydrology Terminus Article 2016 ftunivkansas https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL065806 2022-08-26T13:20:12Z Submarine melt can account for substantial mass loss at tidewater glacier termini. However, the processes controlling submarine melt are poorly understood due to limited observations of submarine termini. Here at a tidewater glacier in central West Greenland, we identify subglacial discharge outlets and infer submarine melt across the terminus using direct observations of the submarine terminus face. We find extensive melting associated with small discharge outlets. While the majority of discharge is routed to a single, large channel, outlets not fed by large tributaries drive submarine melt rates in excess of 3.0 m d−1 and account for 85% of total estimated melt across the terminus. Nearly the entire terminus is undercut, which may intersect surface crevasses and promote calving. Severe undercutting constricts buoyant outflow plumes and may amplify melt. The observed morphology and melt distribution motivate more realistic treatments of terminus shape and subglacial discharge in submarine melt models. Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier Greenland Tidewater The University of Kansas: KU ScholarWorks Greenland Geophysical Research Letters 42 21 9328 9336 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
The University of Kansas: KU ScholarWorks |
op_collection_id |
ftunivkansas |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Glaciology Submarine Melt Subglacial Hydrology Terminus |
spellingShingle |
Glaciology Submarine Melt Subglacial Hydrology Terminus Fried, Mason J. Catania, Ginny A. Bartholomaus, Timothy C. Duncan, D. Davis, M. Stearns, Leigh A. Nash, Jonathan D. Shroyer, Emily L. Sutherland, David A. Distributed subglacial discharge drives significant submarine melt at a Greenland tidewater glacier |
topic_facet |
Glaciology Submarine Melt Subglacial Hydrology Terminus |
description |
Submarine melt can account for substantial mass loss at tidewater glacier termini. However, the processes controlling submarine melt are poorly understood due to limited observations of submarine termini. Here at a tidewater glacier in central West Greenland, we identify subglacial discharge outlets and infer submarine melt across the terminus using direct observations of the submarine terminus face. We find extensive melting associated with small discharge outlets. While the majority of discharge is routed to a single, large channel, outlets not fed by large tributaries drive submarine melt rates in excess of 3.0 m d−1 and account for 85% of total estimated melt across the terminus. Nearly the entire terminus is undercut, which may intersect surface crevasses and promote calving. Severe undercutting constricts buoyant outflow plumes and may amplify melt. The observed morphology and melt distribution motivate more realistic treatments of terminus shape and subglacial discharge in submarine melt models. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Fried, Mason J. Catania, Ginny A. Bartholomaus, Timothy C. Duncan, D. Davis, M. Stearns, Leigh A. Nash, Jonathan D. Shroyer, Emily L. Sutherland, David A. |
author_facet |
Fried, Mason J. Catania, Ginny A. Bartholomaus, Timothy C. Duncan, D. Davis, M. Stearns, Leigh A. Nash, Jonathan D. Shroyer, Emily L. Sutherland, David A. |
author_sort |
Fried, Mason J. |
title |
Distributed subglacial discharge drives significant submarine melt at a Greenland tidewater glacier |
title_short |
Distributed subglacial discharge drives significant submarine melt at a Greenland tidewater glacier |
title_full |
Distributed subglacial discharge drives significant submarine melt at a Greenland tidewater glacier |
title_fullStr |
Distributed subglacial discharge drives significant submarine melt at a Greenland tidewater glacier |
title_full_unstemmed |
Distributed subglacial discharge drives significant submarine melt at a Greenland tidewater glacier |
title_sort |
distributed subglacial discharge drives significant submarine melt at a greenland tidewater glacier |
publisher |
American Geophysical Union (AGU) |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1808/22254 https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL065806 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
glacier Greenland Tidewater |
genre_facet |
glacier Greenland Tidewater |
op_relation |
Fried, M. J., G. A. Catania, T. C. Bartholomaus, D. Duncan, M. Davis, L. A. Stearns, J. Nash, E. Shroyer, and D. Sutherland (2015), Distributed subglacial discharge drives significant submarine melt at a Greenland tidewater glacier, Geophys. Res. Lett., 42, 9328–9336, doi:10.1002/2015GL065806. http://hdl.handle.net/1808/22254 doi:10.1002/2015GL065806 |
op_rights |
©2015. American Geophysical Union, All Rights Reserved. openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL065806 |
container_title |
Geophysical Research Letters |
container_volume |
42 |
container_issue |
21 |
container_start_page |
9328 |
op_container_end_page |
9336 |
_version_ |
1766009057751072768 |