Controls on the transport of oceanic heat to Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier, East Greenland
Greenland's marine-terminating glaciers may be sensitive to oceanic heat, but the fjord processes controlling delivery of this heat to glacier termini remain poorly constrained. Here we use a three-dimensional numerical model of Kangerdlugssuaq Fjord, East Greenland, to examine controls on fjor...
Published in: | Journal of Glaciology |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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2016
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Online Access: | https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/controls-on-the-transport-of-oceanic-heat-to-kangerdlugssuaq-glacier-east-greenland(e683e7ac-a405-469b-8a37-c75543e22133).html https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2016.117 https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/10023/9639/1/Cowton_2016_JG_KangerdlugssuaqGlacier_CC.pdf |
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ftunstandrewcris:oai:research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk:publications/e683e7ac-a405-469b-8a37-c75543e22133 2024-06-23T07:50:33+00:00 Controls on the transport of oceanic heat to Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier, East Greenland Cowton, Tom Sole, Andrew Nienow, Peter Slater, Donald Wilton, David Hanna, Edward 2016-12 application/pdf https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/controls-on-the-transport-of-oceanic-heat-to-kangerdlugssuaq-glacier-east-greenland(e683e7ac-a405-469b-8a37-c75543e22133).html https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2016.117 https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/10023/9639/1/Cowton_2016_JG_KangerdlugssuaqGlacier_CC.pdf eng eng https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/controls-on-the-transport-of-oceanic-heat-to-kangerdlugssuaq-glacier-east-greenland(e683e7ac-a405-469b-8a37-c75543e22133).html info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Cowton , T , Sole , A , Nienow , P , Slater , D , Wilton , D & Hanna , E 2016 , ' Controls on the transport of oceanic heat to Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier, East Greenland ' , Journal of Glaciology , vol. 62 , no. 236 , pp. 1167-1180 . https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2016.117 Arctic glaciology Calving Glacier discharge Ice/ocean interactions article 2016 ftunstandrewcris https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2016.117 2024-06-13T00:52:56Z Greenland's marine-terminating glaciers may be sensitive to oceanic heat, but the fjord processes controlling delivery of this heat to glacier termini remain poorly constrained. Here we use a three-dimensional numerical model of Kangerdlugssuaq Fjord, East Greenland, to examine controls on fjord-shelf exchange. We find that intermediary circulation can replace up to ~25% of the fjord volume with water from the shelf within 10 days, while buoyancy-driven circulation (forced by subglacial runoff from marine-terminating glaciers) exchanges ~10 % of the fjord volume over a 10 day period under typical summer conditions. However, while the intermediary circulation generates higher exchange rates between the fjord and shelf, the buoyancy-driven circulation is consistent over time hence more efficient at transporting water along the full length of the fjord. We thus find that buoyancy-driven circulation is the primary conveyor of oceanic heat to glaciers during the melt season. Intermediary circulation will however dominate during winter unless there is sufficient input of freshwater from subglacial melting. Our findings suggest that increasing shelf water temperatures and stronger buoyancy-driven circulation caused the heat available for melting at Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier to increase by ~50% between 1993-2001 and 2002-2011, broadly coincident with the onset of rapid retreat at this glacier. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic East Greenland glacier Greenland Journal of Glaciology University of St Andrews: Research Portal Arctic Greenland Journal of Glaciology 62 236 1167 1180 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of St Andrews: Research Portal |
op_collection_id |
ftunstandrewcris |
language |
English |
topic |
Arctic glaciology Calving Glacier discharge Ice/ocean interactions |
spellingShingle |
Arctic glaciology Calving Glacier discharge Ice/ocean interactions Cowton, Tom Sole, Andrew Nienow, Peter Slater, Donald Wilton, David Hanna, Edward Controls on the transport of oceanic heat to Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier, East Greenland |
topic_facet |
Arctic glaciology Calving Glacier discharge Ice/ocean interactions |
description |
Greenland's marine-terminating glaciers may be sensitive to oceanic heat, but the fjord processes controlling delivery of this heat to glacier termini remain poorly constrained. Here we use a three-dimensional numerical model of Kangerdlugssuaq Fjord, East Greenland, to examine controls on fjord-shelf exchange. We find that intermediary circulation can replace up to ~25% of the fjord volume with water from the shelf within 10 days, while buoyancy-driven circulation (forced by subglacial runoff from marine-terminating glaciers) exchanges ~10 % of the fjord volume over a 10 day period under typical summer conditions. However, while the intermediary circulation generates higher exchange rates between the fjord and shelf, the buoyancy-driven circulation is consistent over time hence more efficient at transporting water along the full length of the fjord. We thus find that buoyancy-driven circulation is the primary conveyor of oceanic heat to glaciers during the melt season. Intermediary circulation will however dominate during winter unless there is sufficient input of freshwater from subglacial melting. Our findings suggest that increasing shelf water temperatures and stronger buoyancy-driven circulation caused the heat available for melting at Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier to increase by ~50% between 1993-2001 and 2002-2011, broadly coincident with the onset of rapid retreat at this glacier. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Cowton, Tom Sole, Andrew Nienow, Peter Slater, Donald Wilton, David Hanna, Edward |
author_facet |
Cowton, Tom Sole, Andrew Nienow, Peter Slater, Donald Wilton, David Hanna, Edward |
author_sort |
Cowton, Tom |
title |
Controls on the transport of oceanic heat to Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier, East Greenland |
title_short |
Controls on the transport of oceanic heat to Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier, East Greenland |
title_full |
Controls on the transport of oceanic heat to Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier, East Greenland |
title_fullStr |
Controls on the transport of oceanic heat to Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier, East Greenland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Controls on the transport of oceanic heat to Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier, East Greenland |
title_sort |
controls on the transport of oceanic heat to kangerdlugssuaq glacier, east greenland |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/controls-on-the-transport-of-oceanic-heat-to-kangerdlugssuaq-glacier-east-greenland(e683e7ac-a405-469b-8a37-c75543e22133).html https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2016.117 https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/10023/9639/1/Cowton_2016_JG_KangerdlugssuaqGlacier_CC.pdf |
geographic |
Arctic Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Greenland |
genre |
Arctic East Greenland glacier Greenland Journal of Glaciology |
genre_facet |
Arctic East Greenland glacier Greenland Journal of Glaciology |
op_source |
Cowton , T , Sole , A , Nienow , P , Slater , D , Wilton , D & Hanna , E 2016 , ' Controls on the transport of oceanic heat to Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier, East Greenland ' , Journal of Glaciology , vol. 62 , no. 236 , pp. 1167-1180 . https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2016.117 |
op_relation |
https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/controls-on-the-transport-of-oceanic-heat-to-kangerdlugssuaq-glacier-east-greenland(e683e7ac-a405-469b-8a37-c75543e22133).html |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2016.117 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_volume |
62 |
container_issue |
236 |
container_start_page |
1167 |
op_container_end_page |
1180 |
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