How Greenland melts
Satellite altimetry and gravimetry show that the Greenland ice sheet has been losing volume and mass since the beginning of this century. However, from these short time series of direct measurements we cannot infer what the causes of the mass loss are, i.e. ice dynamics or surface processes, or that...
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ftunivutrecht:oai:dspace.library.uu.nl:1874/203006 2023-07-23T04:19:27+02:00 How Greenland melts van den Broeke, M.R. Marine and Atmospheric Research Sub Dynamics Meteorology 2010 image/pdf https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/203006 en eng 2101-6275 https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/203006 info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess Article 2010 ftunivutrecht 2023-07-01T23:48:18Z Satellite altimetry and gravimetry show that the Greenland ice sheet has been losing volume and mass since the beginning of this century. However, from these short time series of direct measurements we cannot infer what the causes of the mass loss are, i.e. ice dynamics or surface processes, or that maybe the ice sheet returns to normal after a period of volume increase and mass gain. By modelling and observing the individual components of the ice sheet mass balance, i.e. snowfall, meltwater runoff and iceberg production, we are able to identify the processes that led to the recent mass loss. We conclude that the Greenland ice sheet is significantly out of balance. Acceleration of outlet glaciers and increased runoff have contributed equally to recent Greenland mass loss. The potential for mass loss by surface processes, however, was three times greater than actually observed, due to refreezing and enhanced snowfall. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Ice Sheet Utrecht University Repository Greenland |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Utrecht University Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftunivutrecht |
language |
English |
description |
Satellite altimetry and gravimetry show that the Greenland ice sheet has been losing volume and mass since the beginning of this century. However, from these short time series of direct measurements we cannot infer what the causes of the mass loss are, i.e. ice dynamics or surface processes, or that maybe the ice sheet returns to normal after a period of volume increase and mass gain. By modelling and observing the individual components of the ice sheet mass balance, i.e. snowfall, meltwater runoff and iceberg production, we are able to identify the processes that led to the recent mass loss. We conclude that the Greenland ice sheet is significantly out of balance. Acceleration of outlet glaciers and increased runoff have contributed equally to recent Greenland mass loss. The potential for mass loss by surface processes, however, was three times greater than actually observed, due to refreezing and enhanced snowfall. |
author2 |
Marine and Atmospheric Research Sub Dynamics Meteorology |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
van den Broeke, M.R. |
spellingShingle |
van den Broeke, M.R. How Greenland melts |
author_facet |
van den Broeke, M.R. |
author_sort |
van den Broeke, M.R. |
title |
How Greenland melts |
title_short |
How Greenland melts |
title_full |
How Greenland melts |
title_fullStr |
How Greenland melts |
title_full_unstemmed |
How Greenland melts |
title_sort |
how greenland melts |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/203006 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Greenland Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Greenland Ice Sheet |
op_relation |
2101-6275 https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/203006 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess |
_version_ |
1772182550950707200 |