Greenland outlet glacier behavior during the 21st century: Understanding velocities and environmental factors

• Main Author: Moon, Twila Alexandra
• Other Authors: Joughin, Ian R
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: cryosphere; glaciology; Greenland Ice Sheet; mass balance; remote sensing; sea ice; Geology; Climate change; earth and space sciences; Greenland; glacier; Ice Sheet; Ice Shelf; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1773/26278

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2014 Outlet glacier ice dynamics, including ice-flow speed, play a key role in determining Greenland Ice Sheet mass loss, which is a significant contributor to global sea-level rise. Mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet increased significantly over the last several decades and current mass losses of 260-380 Gt ice/yr contribute 0.7-1.1 mm/yr to global sea-level rise (~10%). Understanding the potentially complex interactions among glacier, ocean, and climate, however, remains a challenge and limits certainty in modeling and predicting future ice sheet behavior and associated risks to society. This thesis focuses on understanding the seasonal to interannual scale changes in outlet glacier velocity across the Greenland Ice Sheet and how velocity fluctuations are connected to other elements of the ice sheet-ocean-atmosphere system. 1) Interannual velocity patterns Earlier observations on several of Greenland's outlet glaciers, starting near the turn of the 21st century, indicated rapid (annual-scale) and large (>100%) increases in glacier velocity. Combining data from several satellites, we produce a decade-long (2000 to 2010) record documenting the ongoing velocity evolution of nearly all (200+) of Greenland's major outlet glaciers, revealing complex spatial and temporal patterns. Changes on fast-flow marine-terminating glaciers contrast with steady velocities on ice-shelf-terminating glaciers and slow speeds on land-terminating glaciers. Regionally, glaciers in the northwest accelerated steadily, with more variability in the southeast and relatively steady flow elsewhere. Intraregional variability shows a complex response to regional and local forcing. Observed acceleration indicates that sea level rise from Greenland may fall well below earlier proposed upper bounds. 2) Seasonal velocity patterns Greenland mass loss includes runoff of surface melt and ice discharge via marine-terminating outlet glaciers, the latter now making up a third to a half of total ice loss. ...