Rapid Iceberg calving following Removal of Tightly Packed Pro-Glacial Mélange
Iceberg calving is a major contributor to Greenland’s ice mass loss. Pro-glacial mélange (a mixture of sea ice, icebergs, and snow) may be tightly packed in the long, narrow fjords that front many marine-terminating glaciers and can reduce calving by buttressing. However, data limitations have hampe...
Published in: | Nature Communications |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | unknown |
Published: |
Digital Commons @ University of South Florida
2019
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/geo_facpub/2057 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-10908-4 https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/context/geo_facpub/article/3044/viewcontent/s41467_019_10908_4.pdf |
id |
ftusouthflorida:oai:digitalcommons.usf.edu:geo_facpub-3044 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftusouthflorida:oai:digitalcommons.usf.edu:geo_facpub-3044 2023-07-30T04:04:33+02:00 Rapid Iceberg calving following Removal of Tightly Packed Pro-Glacial Mélange Xie, Surui Dixon, Timothy Holland, David M. Voytenko, Denis Vaňková, Irena 2019-01-01T08:00:00Z application/pdf https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/geo_facpub/2057 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-10908-4 https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/context/geo_facpub/article/3044/viewcontent/s41467_019_10908_4.pdf unknown Digital Commons @ University of South Florida https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/geo_facpub/2057 doi:10.1038/s41467-019-10908-4 https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/context/geo_facpub/article/3044/viewcontent/s41467_019_10908_4.pdf http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications Earth Sciences article 2019 ftusouthflorida https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-10908-4 2023-07-13T20:45:47Z Iceberg calving is a major contributor to Greenland’s ice mass loss. Pro-glacial mélange (a mixture of sea ice, icebergs, and snow) may be tightly packed in the long, narrow fjords that front many marine-terminating glaciers and can reduce calving by buttressing. However, data limitations have hampered a quantitative understanding. We develop a new radar-based approach to estimate time-varying elevations near the mélange-glacier interface, generating a factor of three or more improvement in elevation precision. We apply the technique to Jakobshavn Isbræ, Greenland’s major outlet glacier. Over a one-month period in early summer 2016, the glacier experienced essentially no calving, and was buttressed by an unusually thick mélange wedge that increased in thickness towards the glacier front. The extent and thickness of the wedge gradually decreased, with large-scale calving starting once the mélange mass within 7 km of the glacier front had decreased by >40%. Article in Journal/Newspaper Jakobshavn Jakobshavn isbræ Sea ice University of South Florida St. Petersburg: Digital USFSP Jakobshavn Isbræ ENVELOPE(-49.917,-49.917,69.167,69.167) Nature Communications 10 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of South Florida St. Petersburg: Digital USFSP |
op_collection_id |
ftusouthflorida |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Earth Sciences |
spellingShingle |
Earth Sciences Xie, Surui Dixon, Timothy Holland, David M. Voytenko, Denis Vaňková, Irena Rapid Iceberg calving following Removal of Tightly Packed Pro-Glacial Mélange |
topic_facet |
Earth Sciences |
description |
Iceberg calving is a major contributor to Greenland’s ice mass loss. Pro-glacial mélange (a mixture of sea ice, icebergs, and snow) may be tightly packed in the long, narrow fjords that front many marine-terminating glaciers and can reduce calving by buttressing. However, data limitations have hampered a quantitative understanding. We develop a new radar-based approach to estimate time-varying elevations near the mélange-glacier interface, generating a factor of three or more improvement in elevation precision. We apply the technique to Jakobshavn Isbræ, Greenland’s major outlet glacier. Over a one-month period in early summer 2016, the glacier experienced essentially no calving, and was buttressed by an unusually thick mélange wedge that increased in thickness towards the glacier front. The extent and thickness of the wedge gradually decreased, with large-scale calving starting once the mélange mass within 7 km of the glacier front had decreased by >40%. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Xie, Surui Dixon, Timothy Holland, David M. Voytenko, Denis Vaňková, Irena |
author_facet |
Xie, Surui Dixon, Timothy Holland, David M. Voytenko, Denis Vaňková, Irena |
author_sort |
Xie, Surui |
title |
Rapid Iceberg calving following Removal of Tightly Packed Pro-Glacial Mélange |
title_short |
Rapid Iceberg calving following Removal of Tightly Packed Pro-Glacial Mélange |
title_full |
Rapid Iceberg calving following Removal of Tightly Packed Pro-Glacial Mélange |
title_fullStr |
Rapid Iceberg calving following Removal of Tightly Packed Pro-Glacial Mélange |
title_full_unstemmed |
Rapid Iceberg calving following Removal of Tightly Packed Pro-Glacial Mélange |
title_sort |
rapid iceberg calving following removal of tightly packed pro-glacial mélange |
publisher |
Digital Commons @ University of South Florida |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/geo_facpub/2057 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-10908-4 https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/context/geo_facpub/article/3044/viewcontent/s41467_019_10908_4.pdf |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-49.917,-49.917,69.167,69.167) |
geographic |
Jakobshavn Isbræ |
geographic_facet |
Jakobshavn Isbræ |
genre |
Jakobshavn Jakobshavn isbræ Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Jakobshavn Jakobshavn isbræ Sea ice |
op_source |
School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications |
op_relation |
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/geo_facpub/2057 doi:10.1038/s41467-019-10908-4 https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/context/geo_facpub/article/3044/viewcontent/s41467_019_10908_4.pdf |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-10908-4 |
container_title |
Nature Communications |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1772816075322294272 |