Fracture propagation to the base of the Greenland ice sheet during supraglacial lake drainage
Surface meltwater that reaches the base of an ice sheet creates a mechanism for the rapid response of ice flow to climate change. The process whereby such a pathway is created through thick, cold ice has not, however, been previously observed. We describe the rapid (<2 hours) drainage of a large...
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ftunivtasecite:oai:ecite.utas.edu.au:81951 2023-05-15T16:27:15+02:00 Fracture propagation to the base of the Greenland ice sheet during supraglacial lake drainage Das, SB Joughin, I Behn, MD Howat, IM King, MA Lizarralde, D Bhatia, MP 2008 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1153360 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/81951 en eng Amer Assoc Advancement Science http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1153360 Das, SB and Joughin, I and Behn, MD and Howat, IM and King, MA and Lizarralde, D and Bhatia, MP, Fracture propagation to the base of the Greenland ice sheet during supraglacial lake drainage, Science, 320, (5877) pp. 778-781. ISSN 0036-8075 (2008) [Refereed Article] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/81951 Earth Sciences Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience not elsewhere classified Refereed Article PeerReviewed 2008 ftunivtasecite https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1153360 2019-12-13T21:46:56Z Surface meltwater that reaches the base of an ice sheet creates a mechanism for the rapid response of ice flow to climate change. The process whereby such a pathway is created through thick, cold ice has not, however, been previously observed. We describe the rapid (<2 hours) drainage of a large supraglacial lake down 980 meters through to the bed of the Greenland Ice Sheet initiated by water-driven fracture propagation evolving into moulin flow. Drainage coincided with increased seismicity, transient acceleration, ice-sheet uplift, and horizontal displacement. Subsidence and deceleration occurred over the subsequent 24 hours. The short-lived dynamic response suggests that an efficient drainage system dispersed the meltwater subglacially. The integrated effect of multiple lake drainages could explain the observed net regional summer ice speedup. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Ice Sheet eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) Greenland Science 320 5877 778 781 |
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eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) |
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ftunivtasecite |
language |
English |
topic |
Earth Sciences Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience not elsewhere classified |
spellingShingle |
Earth Sciences Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience not elsewhere classified Das, SB Joughin, I Behn, MD Howat, IM King, MA Lizarralde, D Bhatia, MP Fracture propagation to the base of the Greenland ice sheet during supraglacial lake drainage |
topic_facet |
Earth Sciences Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience not elsewhere classified |
description |
Surface meltwater that reaches the base of an ice sheet creates a mechanism for the rapid response of ice flow to climate change. The process whereby such a pathway is created through thick, cold ice has not, however, been previously observed. We describe the rapid (<2 hours) drainage of a large supraglacial lake down 980 meters through to the bed of the Greenland Ice Sheet initiated by water-driven fracture propagation evolving into moulin flow. Drainage coincided with increased seismicity, transient acceleration, ice-sheet uplift, and horizontal displacement. Subsidence and deceleration occurred over the subsequent 24 hours. The short-lived dynamic response suggests that an efficient drainage system dispersed the meltwater subglacially. The integrated effect of multiple lake drainages could explain the observed net regional summer ice speedup. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Das, SB Joughin, I Behn, MD Howat, IM King, MA Lizarralde, D Bhatia, MP |
author_facet |
Das, SB Joughin, I Behn, MD Howat, IM King, MA Lizarralde, D Bhatia, MP |
author_sort |
Das, SB |
title |
Fracture propagation to the base of the Greenland ice sheet during supraglacial lake drainage |
title_short |
Fracture propagation to the base of the Greenland ice sheet during supraglacial lake drainage |
title_full |
Fracture propagation to the base of the Greenland ice sheet during supraglacial lake drainage |
title_fullStr |
Fracture propagation to the base of the Greenland ice sheet during supraglacial lake drainage |
title_full_unstemmed |
Fracture propagation to the base of the Greenland ice sheet during supraglacial lake drainage |
title_sort |
fracture propagation to the base of the greenland ice sheet during supraglacial lake drainage |
publisher |
Amer Assoc Advancement Science |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1153360 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/81951 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Greenland Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Greenland Ice Sheet |
op_relation |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1153360 Das, SB and Joughin, I and Behn, MD and Howat, IM and King, MA and Lizarralde, D and Bhatia, MP, Fracture propagation to the base of the Greenland ice sheet during supraglacial lake drainage, Science, 320, (5877) pp. 778-781. ISSN 0036-8075 (2008) [Refereed Article] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/81951 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1153360 |
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Science |
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320 |
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5877 |
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778 |
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781 |
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1766016378585743360 |