Iceberg melting substantially modifies oceanic heat flux towards a major Greenlandic tidewater glacier
Fjord dynamics influence oceanic heat flux to the Greenland ice sheet. Submarine iceberg melting releases large volumes of freshwater within Greenland’s fjords, yet its impact on fjord dynamics remains unclear. We modify an ocean model to simulate submarine iceberg melting in Sermilik Fjord, east Gr...
Published in: | Nature Communications |
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2020
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Online Access: | https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/iceberg-melting-substantially-modifies-oceanic-heat-flux-towards-a-major-greenlandic-tidewater-glacier(d0c66020-74b6-4e0b-a986-c4256ad9e94f).html https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19805-7 https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/10023/21091/1/Davison_2020_NatComms_Iceberg_CC.pdf |
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ftunstandrewcris:oai:research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk:publications/d0c66020-74b6-4e0b-a986-c4256ad9e94f 2024-06-23T07:52:26+00:00 Iceberg melting substantially modifies oceanic heat flux towards a major Greenlandic tidewater glacier Davison, Ben Cowton, Tom Cottier, Finlo Sole, Andrew 2020-11-25 application/pdf https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/iceberg-melting-substantially-modifies-oceanic-heat-flux-towards-a-major-greenlandic-tidewater-glacier(d0c66020-74b6-4e0b-a986-c4256ad9e94f).html https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19805-7 https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/10023/21091/1/Davison_2020_NatComms_Iceberg_CC.pdf eng eng https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/iceberg-melting-substantially-modifies-oceanic-heat-flux-towards-a-major-greenlandic-tidewater-glacier(d0c66020-74b6-4e0b-a986-c4256ad9e94f).html info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Davison , B , Cowton , T , Cottier , F & Sole , A 2020 , ' Iceberg melting substantially modifies oceanic heat flux towards a major Greenlandic tidewater glacier ' , Nature Communications , vol. 11 , 5983 . https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19805-7 article 2020 ftunstandrewcris https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19805-7 2024-06-13T01:13:04Z Fjord dynamics influence oceanic heat flux to the Greenland ice sheet. Submarine iceberg melting releases large volumes of freshwater within Greenland’s fjords, yet its impact on fjord dynamics remains unclear. We modify an ocean model to simulate submarine iceberg melting in Sermilik Fjord, east Greenland. Here we find that submarine iceberg melting cools and freshens the fjord by up to ~5 °C and 0.7 psu in the upper 100-200 m. The release of freshwater from icebergs drives an overturning circulation, resulting in a ~10% increase in net up-fjord heat flux. In addition, we find that submarine iceberg melting accounts for over 95% of heat used for ice melt in Sermilik Fjord. Our results highlight the substantial impact that icebergs have on the dynamics of a major Greenlandic fjord, demonstrating the importance of including related processes in studies that seek to quantify interactions between the ice sheet and the ocean. Article in Journal/Newspaper East Greenland glacier Greenland greenlandic Ice Sheet Sermilik Tidewater University of St Andrews: Research Portal Greenland Nature Communications 11 1 |
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University of St Andrews: Research Portal |
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ftunstandrewcris |
language |
English |
description |
Fjord dynamics influence oceanic heat flux to the Greenland ice sheet. Submarine iceberg melting releases large volumes of freshwater within Greenland’s fjords, yet its impact on fjord dynamics remains unclear. We modify an ocean model to simulate submarine iceberg melting in Sermilik Fjord, east Greenland. Here we find that submarine iceberg melting cools and freshens the fjord by up to ~5 °C and 0.7 psu in the upper 100-200 m. The release of freshwater from icebergs drives an overturning circulation, resulting in a ~10% increase in net up-fjord heat flux. In addition, we find that submarine iceberg melting accounts for over 95% of heat used for ice melt in Sermilik Fjord. Our results highlight the substantial impact that icebergs have on the dynamics of a major Greenlandic fjord, demonstrating the importance of including related processes in studies that seek to quantify interactions between the ice sheet and the ocean. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Davison, Ben Cowton, Tom Cottier, Finlo Sole, Andrew |
spellingShingle |
Davison, Ben Cowton, Tom Cottier, Finlo Sole, Andrew Iceberg melting substantially modifies oceanic heat flux towards a major Greenlandic tidewater glacier |
author_facet |
Davison, Ben Cowton, Tom Cottier, Finlo Sole, Andrew |
author_sort |
Davison, Ben |
title |
Iceberg melting substantially modifies oceanic heat flux towards a major Greenlandic tidewater glacier |
title_short |
Iceberg melting substantially modifies oceanic heat flux towards a major Greenlandic tidewater glacier |
title_full |
Iceberg melting substantially modifies oceanic heat flux towards a major Greenlandic tidewater glacier |
title_fullStr |
Iceberg melting substantially modifies oceanic heat flux towards a major Greenlandic tidewater glacier |
title_full_unstemmed |
Iceberg melting substantially modifies oceanic heat flux towards a major Greenlandic tidewater glacier |
title_sort |
iceberg melting substantially modifies oceanic heat flux towards a major greenlandic tidewater glacier |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/iceberg-melting-substantially-modifies-oceanic-heat-flux-towards-a-major-greenlandic-tidewater-glacier(d0c66020-74b6-4e0b-a986-c4256ad9e94f).html https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19805-7 https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/10023/21091/1/Davison_2020_NatComms_Iceberg_CC.pdf |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
East Greenland glacier Greenland greenlandic Ice Sheet Sermilik Tidewater |
genre_facet |
East Greenland glacier Greenland greenlandic Ice Sheet Sermilik Tidewater |
op_source |
Davison , B , Cowton , T , Cottier , F & Sole , A 2020 , ' Iceberg melting substantially modifies oceanic heat flux towards a major Greenlandic tidewater glacier ' , Nature Communications , vol. 11 , 5983 . https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19805-7 |
op_relation |
https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/iceberg-melting-substantially-modifies-oceanic-heat-flux-towards-a-major-greenlandic-tidewater-glacier(d0c66020-74b6-4e0b-a986-c4256ad9e94f).html |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19805-7 |
container_title |
Nature Communications |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
1 |
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1802643736699600896 |