scholarly journals Oceanic heat delivery via Kangerdlugssuaq Fjord to the south-east Greenland ice sheet

2014 ◽  
Vol 119 (2) ◽  
pp. 631-645 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark E. Inall ◽  
Tavi Murray ◽  
Finlo R. Cottier ◽  
Kilian Scharrer ◽  
Timothy J. Boyd ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
The South ◽  
East Greenland

The Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden glacier project, North-East Greenland: a study of ice sheet response to climatic change

1997 ◽  
pp. 95-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henrik Højmark Thomsen ◽  
Niels Reeh ◽  
Ole B. Olesen ◽  
Carl Egede Bøggilde ◽  
Wolfgang Starzer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climatic Change ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
East Greenland ◽  
Changing Climate ◽  
North East ◽  
Integrated Research ◽  
Research Themes ◽  
Advance Research ◽  
Inland Ice

NOTE: This article was published in a former series of GEUS Bulletin. Please use the original series name when citing this article, for example: Højmark Thomsen, H., Reeh, N., Olesen, O. B., Egede Bøggilde, C., Starzer, W., Weidick, A., & Higgins, A. K. (1997). The Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden glacier project, North-East Greenland: a study of ice sheet response to climatic change. Geology of Greenland Survey Bulletin, 176, 95-103. https://doi.org/10.34194/ggub.v176.5073 _______________ Glaciological research was initiated in 1996 on the floating glacier tongue filling Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden in NorthEast Greenland (Fig. 1), with the aim of acquiring a better understanding of the response of the Greenland ice sheet (Inland Ice) to changing climate, and the implications for future sea level. The research is part of a three year project (1996–98) to advance research into the basic processes that contribute to changes in the ocean volume with a changing climate. Five nations are participants in the project, which is supported by the European Community (EC) Environment and Climate Programme. The Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) and the Danish Polar Center are the Danish partners in the project, both with integrated research themes concentrated on and around Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden.

scholarly journals East Greenland ice core dust record reveals timing of Greenland ice sheet advance and retreat

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marius Folden Simonsen ◽  
Giovanni Baccolo ◽  
Thomas Blunier ◽  
Alejandra Borunda ◽  
Barbara Delmonte ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Interglacial Period ◽  
Last Deglaciation ◽  
Glacial Cycle ◽  
East Greenland ◽  
Ice Cap ◽  
Climate Forcings

Abstract Accurate estimates of the past extent of the Greenland ice sheet provide critical constraints for ice sheet models used to determine Greenland’s response to climate forcing and contribution to global sea level. Here we use a continuous ice core dust record from the Renland ice cap on the east coast of Greenland to constrain the timing of changes to the ice sheet margin and relative sea level over the last glacial cycle. During the Holocene and the previous interglacial period (Eemian) the dust record was dominated by coarse particles consistent with rock samples from central East Greenland. From the coarse particle concentration record we infer the East Greenland ice sheet margin advanced from 113.4 ± 0.4 to 111.0 ± 0.4 ka BP during the glacial onset and retreated from 12.1 ± 0.1 to 9.0 ± 0.1 ka BP during the last deglaciation. These findings constrain the possible response of the Greenland ice sheet to climate forcings.

Marine geophysical evidence for former expansion and flow of the Greenland Ice Sheet across the north-east Greenland continental shelf

2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 279-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Evans ◽  
Colm Ó Cofaigh ◽  
Julian A. Dowdeswell ◽  
Peter Wadhams
Keyword(s):  
Continental Shelf ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
East Greenland ◽  
North East ◽  
The North

scholarly journals Glacier algae accelerate melt rates on the south-western Greenland Ice Sheet

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 309-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph M. Cook ◽  
Andrew J. Tedstone ◽  
Christopher Williamson ◽  
Jenine McCutcheon ◽  
Andrew J. Hodson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Algal Blooms ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Algal Growth ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Radiation Absorption ◽  
Transfer Model ◽  
High Biomass ◽  
The South ◽  
Ice Surface

Abstract. Melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) is the largest single contributor to eustatic sea level and is amplified by the growth of pigmented algae on the ice surface, which increases solar radiation absorption. This biological albedo-reducing effect and its impact upon sea level rise has not previously been quantified. Here, we combine field spectroscopy with a radiative-transfer model, supervised classification of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and satellite remote-sensing data, and runoff modelling to calculate biologically driven ice surface ablation. We demonstrate that algal growth led to an additional 4.4–6.0 Gt of runoff from bare ice in the south-western sector of the GrIS in summer 2017, representing 10 %–13 % of the total. In localized patches with high biomass accumulation, algae accelerated melting by up to 26.15±3.77 % (standard error, SE). The year 2017 was a high-albedo year, so we also extended our analysis to the particularly low-albedo 2016 melt season. The runoff from the south-western bare-ice zone attributed to algae was much higher in 2016 at 8.8–12.2 Gt, although the proportion of the total runoff contributed by algae was similar at 9 %–13 %. Across a 10 000 km2 area around our field site, algae covered similar proportions of the exposed bare ice zone in both years (57.99 % in 2016 and 58.89 % in 2017), but more of the algal ice was classed as “high biomass” in 2016 (8.35 %) than 2017 (2.54 %). This interannual comparison demonstrates a positive feedback where more widespread, higher-biomass algal blooms are expected to form in high-melt years where the winter snowpack retreats further and earlier, providing a larger area for bloom development and also enhancing the provision of nutrients and liquid water liberated from melting ice. Our analysis confirms the importance of this biological albedo feedback and that its omission from predictive models leads to the systematic underestimation of Greenland's future sea level contribution, especially because both the bare-ice zones available for algal colonization and the length of the biological growth season are set to expand in the future.

scholarly journals Melting of Northern Greenland during the last interglaciation

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 1239-1250 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Born ◽  
K. H. Nisancioglu
Keyword(s):  
Climate Model ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Large Mass ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
Coupled Climate Model ◽  
The South ◽  
High Accumulation ◽  
Positive Feedbacks

Abstract. Using simulated climate data from the comprehensive coupled climate model IPSL CM4, we simulate the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) during the Eemian interglaciation with the three-dimensional ice sheet model SICOPOLIS. The Eemian is a period 126 000 yr before present (126 ka) with Arctic temperatures comparable to projections for the end of this century. In our simulation, the northeastern part of the GrIS is unstable and retreats significantly, despite moderate melt rates. This result is found to be robust to perturbations within a wide parameter space of key parameters of the ice sheet model, the choice of initial ice temperature, and has been reproduced with climate forcing from a second coupled climate model, the CCSM3. It is shown that the northeast GrIS is the most vulnerable. Even a small increase in melt removes many years of ice accumulation, giving a large mass imbalance and triggering the strong ice-elevation feedback. Unlike the south and west, melting in the northeast is not compensated by high accumulation. The analogy with modern warming suggests that in coming decades, positive feedbacks could increase the rate of mass loss of the northeastern GrIS, exceeding the recent observed thinning rates in the south.

Significant thinning of the south Greenland Ice Sheet margin

Weather ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 102-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl Egede Bøggild ◽  
Steffen Podlech
Keyword(s):  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
The South

scholarly journals Evidence for regional cooling, frontal advances, and East Greenland Ice Sheet changes during the demise of the last interglacial

2016 ◽  
Vol 150 ◽  
pp. 184-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nil Irvalı ◽  
Ulysses S. Ninnemann ◽  
Helga (Kikki) F. Kleiven ◽  
Eirik V. Galaasen ◽  
Audrey Morley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Last Interglacial ◽  
East Greenland

scholarly journals Melting of Northern Greenland during the last interglacial

2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 3517-3539 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Born ◽  
K. H. Nisancioglu
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Last Interglacial ◽  
The South ◽  
High Accumulation ◽  
Positive Feedbacks ◽  
Geological Past

Abstract. The Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) is losing mass at an increasing rate, making it the primary contributor to global eustatic sea level rise. Large melting areas and rapid thinning at its margins has raised concerns about its stability. However, it is conceivable that these observations represent the transient adjustment of the fastest reacting parts of the ice sheet, masking slower processes that dominate the long term fate of the GrIS and its contribution to sea level rise. Studies of the geological past provide valuable information on the long term response of the GrIS to warm periods. We simulate the GrIS during the Eemian interglacial, a period 126 000 yr before present (126 ka) with Arctic temperatures comparable to projections for the end of this century. The northeastern part of the GrIS is unstable and retreats significantly, despite moderate melt rates. Unlike the south and west, strong melting in the northeast is not compensated by high accumulation, or fast ice flow. The analogy with the present warming suggests that in coming decades, positive feedbacks could increase the rate of mass loss of the northeastern GrIS, exceeding the currently observed melting in the south.

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