Greenland supraglacial lake drainages triggered by hydrologically induced basal slip
Water-driven fracture propagation beneath supraglacial lakes rapidly transports large volumes of surface meltwater to the base of the Greenland Ice Sheet. These drainage events drive transient ice-sheet acceleration and establish conduits for additional surface-to-bed meltwater transport for the rem...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14480 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/101007 |
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ftunivtasecite:oai:ecite.utas.edu.au:101007 2023-05-15T16:27:11+02:00 Greenland supraglacial lake drainages triggered by hydrologically induced basal slip Stevens, LA Behn, MD McGuire, JJ Das, SB Joughin, I Herring, T Shean, DE King, MA 2015 https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14480 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/101007 en eng Nature Publishing Group http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature14480 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT110100207 Stevens, LA and Behn, MD and McGuire, JJ and Das, SB and Joughin, I and Herring, T and Shean, DE and King, MA, Greenland supraglacial lake drainages triggered by hydrologically induced basal slip, Nature, 522, (7554) pp. 73-76. ISSN 0028-0836 (2015) [Refereed Article] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/101007 Engineering Geomatic Engineering Geodesy Refereed Article PeerReviewed 2015 ftunivtasecite https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14480 2019-12-13T22:02:47Z Water-driven fracture propagation beneath supraglacial lakes rapidly transports large volumes of surface meltwater to the base of the Greenland Ice Sheet. These drainage events drive transient ice-sheet acceleration and establish conduits for additional surface-to-bed meltwater transport for the remainder of the melt season. Although it is well established that cracks must remain water-filled to propagate to the bed, the precise mechanisms that initiate hydro-fracture events beneath lakes are unknown. Here we show that, for a lake on the western Greenland Ice Sheet, drainage events are preceded by a 612 hour period of ice-sheet uplift and/or enhanced basal slip. Our observations from a dense Global Positioning System (GPS) network allow us to determine the distribution of meltwater at the ice-sheet bed before, during, and after three rapid drainages in 20112013, each of which generates tensile stresses that promote hydro-fracture beneath the lake. We hypothesize that these precursors are associated with the introduction of meltwater to the bed through neighbouring moulin systems (vertical conduits connecting the surface and base of the ice sheet). Our results imply that as lakes form in less crevassed, interior regions of the ice sheet, where water at the bed is currently less pervasive, the creation of new surface-to-bed conduits caused by lake-draining hydro-fractures may be limited. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Ice Sheet eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) Greenland Nature 522 7554 73 76 |
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Open Polar |
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eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) |
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ftunivtasecite |
language |
English |
topic |
Engineering Geomatic Engineering Geodesy |
spellingShingle |
Engineering Geomatic Engineering Geodesy Stevens, LA Behn, MD McGuire, JJ Das, SB Joughin, I Herring, T Shean, DE King, MA Greenland supraglacial lake drainages triggered by hydrologically induced basal slip |
topic_facet |
Engineering Geomatic Engineering Geodesy |
description |
Water-driven fracture propagation beneath supraglacial lakes rapidly transports large volumes of surface meltwater to the base of the Greenland Ice Sheet. These drainage events drive transient ice-sheet acceleration and establish conduits for additional surface-to-bed meltwater transport for the remainder of the melt season. Although it is well established that cracks must remain water-filled to propagate to the bed, the precise mechanisms that initiate hydro-fracture events beneath lakes are unknown. Here we show that, for a lake on the western Greenland Ice Sheet, drainage events are preceded by a 612 hour period of ice-sheet uplift and/or enhanced basal slip. Our observations from a dense Global Positioning System (GPS) network allow us to determine the distribution of meltwater at the ice-sheet bed before, during, and after three rapid drainages in 20112013, each of which generates tensile stresses that promote hydro-fracture beneath the lake. We hypothesize that these precursors are associated with the introduction of meltwater to the bed through neighbouring moulin systems (vertical conduits connecting the surface and base of the ice sheet). Our results imply that as lakes form in less crevassed, interior regions of the ice sheet, where water at the bed is currently less pervasive, the creation of new surface-to-bed conduits caused by lake-draining hydro-fractures may be limited. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Stevens, LA Behn, MD McGuire, JJ Das, SB Joughin, I Herring, T Shean, DE King, MA |
author_facet |
Stevens, LA Behn, MD McGuire, JJ Das, SB Joughin, I Herring, T Shean, DE King, MA |
author_sort |
Stevens, LA |
title |
Greenland supraglacial lake drainages triggered by hydrologically induced basal slip |
title_short |
Greenland supraglacial lake drainages triggered by hydrologically induced basal slip |
title_full |
Greenland supraglacial lake drainages triggered by hydrologically induced basal slip |
title_fullStr |
Greenland supraglacial lake drainages triggered by hydrologically induced basal slip |
title_full_unstemmed |
Greenland supraglacial lake drainages triggered by hydrologically induced basal slip |
title_sort |
greenland supraglacial lake drainages triggered by hydrologically induced basal slip |
publisher |
Nature Publishing Group |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14480 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/101007 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Greenland Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Greenland Ice Sheet |
op_relation |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature14480 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT110100207 Stevens, LA and Behn, MD and McGuire, JJ and Das, SB and Joughin, I and Herring, T and Shean, DE and King, MA, Greenland supraglacial lake drainages triggered by hydrologically induced basal slip, Nature, 522, (7554) pp. 73-76. ISSN 0028-0836 (2015) [Refereed Article] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/101007 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14480 |
container_title |
Nature |
container_volume |
522 |
container_issue |
7554 |
container_start_page |
73 |
op_container_end_page |
76 |
_version_ |
1766016277890990080 |