scholarly journals Sensitivity of subglacial drainage to water supply distribution at the Kongsfjord basin, Svalbard

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 2719-2738
Author(s):  
Chloé Scholzen ◽  
Thomas V. Schuler ◽  
Adrien Gilbert
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Models ◽  
Drainage System ◽  
Early Summer ◽  
Small Surface ◽  
Svalbard Archipelago ◽  
Tidewater Glaciers ◽  
Hydrological System ◽  
Subglacial Topography ◽  
Long Term Trends ◽  
Subglacial Drainage

Abstract. By regulating the amount, the timing, and the location of meltwater supply to the glacier bed, supraglacial hydrology potentially exerts a major control on the evolution of the subglacial drainage system, which in turn modulates ice velocity. Yet the configuration of the supraglacial hydrological system has received only little attention in numerical models of subglacial hydrology so far. Here we apply the two-dimensional subglacial hydrology model GlaDS (Glacier Drainage System model) to a Svalbard glacier basin with the aim of investigating how the spatial distribution of meltwater recharge affects the characteristics of the basal drainage system. We design four experiments with various degrees of complexity in the way that meltwater is delivered to the subglacial drainage model. Our results show significant differences between experiments in the early summer transition from distributed to channelized drainage, with discrete recharge at moulins favouring channelization at higher elevations and driving overall lower water pressures. Otherwise, we find that water input configuration only poorly influences subglacial hydrology, which instead is controlled primarily by subglacial topography. All experiments fail to develop channels of sufficient efficiency to substantially reduce summertime water pressures, which we attribute to small surface gradients and short melt seasons. The findings of our study are potentially applicable to most Svalbard tidewater glaciers with similar topography and low meltwater recharge. The absence of efficient channelization implies that the dynamics of tidewater glaciers in the Svalbard archipelago may be sensitive to future long-term trends in meltwater supply.

scholarly journals Sensitivity of subglacial drainage to water supply distribution at the Kongsfjord basin, Svalbard

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chloé Scholzen ◽  
Thomas V. Schuler ◽  
Adrien Gilbert
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Models ◽  
Water Pressure ◽  
Drainage System ◽  
Early Summer ◽  
Small Surface ◽  
Svalbard Archipelago ◽  
Tidewater Glaciers ◽  
Hydrological System ◽  
Subglacial Topography ◽  
Subglacial Drainage

Abstract. By regulating the amount, the timing and the location of meltwater supply to the glacier bed, supraglacial hydrology potentially exerts a major control on the evolution of the subglacial drainage system, which in turn modulates sliding. Yet the configuration of the supraglacial hydrological system has received only little attention in numerical models of subglacial hydrology so far. Here we apply the two dimensional subglacial hydrology model GlaDS to a Svalbard glacier basin with the aim of investigating how the spatial distribution of meltwater recharge affects the characteristics of the basal drainage system. We design four experiments with various degrees of complexity in the way that meltwater is delivered to the subglacial drainage model. Our results show significant differences between experiments in the early-summer transition from distributed to channelized drainage, with discrete recharge at moulins favouring channelization and driving earlier rise in basal water pressure. Otherwise, we find that water input configuration only poorly influences subglacial hydrology, which is controlled primarily by subglacial topography. All experiments fail to develop channels of sufficient efficiency to substantially reduce summertime water pressures, which we impute to small surface gradients and short melt seasons. The findings of our study may be extended to most Svalbard tidewater glaciers with similar topography and low meltwater recharge. The absence of efficient channelization implies that the dynamics of tidewater glaciers in the Svalbard archipelago may be sensitive to future long-term trends in meltwater supply.

A 3D full-Stokes model of Store Glacier, Greenland, with coupling of ice flow, subglacial hydrology, submarine melting and calving

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Cook ◽  
Poul Christoffersen ◽  
Joe Todd ◽  
Donald Slater ◽  
Nolwenn Chauché ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Water Pressure ◽  
Drainage System ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Pressure System ◽  
Ice Flow ◽  
Tidewater Glaciers ◽  
Iceberg Calving ◽  
Subglacial Drainage

<p>Tidewater glaciers are complex systems, which present numerous modelling challenges with regards to integrating a multitude of environmental processes spanning different timescales. At the same time, an accurate representation of these systems in models is critical to being able to effectively predict the evolution of the Greenland Ice Sheet and the resulting sea-level rise. In this study, we present results from numerical simulations of Store Glacier in West Greenland that couple ice flow modelled by Elmer/Ice with subglacial hydrology modelled by GlaDS and submarine melting represented with a simple plume model forced by hydrographic observations. The simulations capture the seasonal evolution of the subglacial drainage system and the glacier’s response, and also include the influence of plume-induced ice front melting on calving and buttressing from ice melange present in winter and spring.</p><p>Through running the model for a 6-year period from 2012 to 2017, covering both high- and low-melt years, we find inputs of surface meltwater to the subglacial system establishes channelised subglacial drainage with channels >1 m<sup>2</sup> extending 30-60 km inland depending on the amount of supraglacial runoff evacuated subglacially. The growth of channels is, however, not sufficiently fast to accommodate all inputs of meltwater from the surface, which means that basal water pressures are generally higher in warmer summers compared to cooler summers and lowest in winter months. As a result, the simulated flow of Store Glacier is such that velocities peak in warmer summers, though we suggest that higher surface melt levels may lead to sufficient channelisation for a widespread low-water-pressure system to evolve, which would reduce summer velocities. The results indicate that Greenland’s contribution to sea-level rise is sensitive to the evolution of the subglacial drainage system and especially the ability of channels to grow and accommodate surface meltwater effectively. We also posit that the pattern of plume melting encourages further calving by creating an indented calving front with ‘headlands’ that are laterally unsupported and therefore more vulnerable to collapse. We validate our simulations with a three-week record of iceberg calving events gathered using a terrestrial radar interferometer installed near the calving terminus of Store Glacier.</p>

scholarly journals Greenland subglacial drainage evolution regulated by weakly connected regions of the bed

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew J. Hoffman ◽  
Lauren C. Andrews ◽  
Stephen F. Price ◽  
Ginny A. Catania ◽  
Thomas A. Neumann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Models ◽  
Water Pressure ◽  
Seasonal Pattern ◽  
Drainage System ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Late Summer ◽  
Initial Increase ◽  
Ice Dynamics ◽  
Hydrodynamic Coupling ◽  
Subglacial Drainage

Abstract Penetration of surface meltwater to the bed of the Greenland Ice Sheet each summer causes an initial increase in ice speed due to elevated basal water pressure, followed by slowdown in late summer that continues into fall and winter. While this seasonal pattern is commonly explained by an evolution of the subglacial drainage system from an inefficient distributed to efficient channelized configuration, mounting evidence indicates that subglacial channels are unable to explain important aspects of hydrodynamic coupling in late summer and fall. Here we use numerical models of subglacial drainage and ice flow to show that limited, gradual leakage of water and lowering of water pressure in weakly connected regions of the bed can explain the dominant features in late and post melt season ice dynamics. These results suggest that a third weakly connected drainage component should be included in the conceptual model of subglacial hydrology.

Northeast Atlantic storminess in centennial reanalyses

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver Krueger ◽  
Frauke Feser ◽  
Christopher Kadow ◽  
Ralf Weisse
Keyword(s):  
Climate Models ◽  
Numerical Models ◽  
Geostrophic Wind ◽  
Model Systems ◽  
Storm Activity ◽  
Northeast Atlantic ◽  
Wind Speeds ◽  
Long Term Trends ◽  
Storm Index

<p>Global atmospheric reanalyses are commonly applied for the validation of climate models, diagnostic studies, and driving higher resolution numerical models with the emphasis on assessing climate variability and long-term trends. Over recent years, longer reanalyses spanning a period of more than hundred years have become available. In this study, the variability and long-term trends of storm activity is assessed over the northeast Atlantic in modern centennial reanalysis datasets, namely ERA-20cm, ERA-20c, CERA-20c, and the 20CR-reanalysis suite with 20CRv3 being the most recent one. All reanalyses, except from ERA-20cm, assimilate surface pressure observations, whereby ERA-20C and CERA-20c additionally assimilate surface winds. For the assessment, the well-established storm index of higher annual percentiles of geostrophic wind speeds derived from pressure observations at sea level over a relatively densely monitored marine area is used.</p><p>The results indicate that the examined centennial reanalyses are not able to represent long-term trends of storm activity over the northeast Atlantic, particularly in the earlier years of the period examined when compared with the geostrophic wind index based on pressure observations. Moreover, the reanalyses show inconsistent long-term behaviour when compared with each other. Only in the latter half of the 20th century, the variability of reanalysed and observed storminess time series starts to agree with each other. Additionally, 20CRv3, the most recent centennial reanalysis examined, shows markedly improved results with increased uncertainty, albeit multidecadal storminess variability does not match observed values in earlier times before about 1920.</p><p>The behaviour shown by the centennial reanalyses are likely caused by the increasing number of assimilated observations, changes in the observational databases used, and the different underlying numerical model systems. Furthermore, the results derived from the ERA-20cm reanalysis that does not assimilate any pressure or wind observations suggests that the variability and uncertainty of storminess over the northeast Atlantic is high making it difficult to determine storm activity when numerical models are not bound by observations. The results of this study imply and reconfirm previous findings that the assessment of long-term storminess trends and variability in centennial reanalyses remains a rather delicate matter, at least for the northeast Atlantic region.</p>

scholarly journals Large-scale integrated subglacial drainage around the former Keewatin Ice Divide, Canada reveals interaction between distributed and channelised systems

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma L. M. Lewington ◽  
Stephen J. Livingstone ◽  
Chris D. Clark ◽  
Andrew J. Sole ◽  
Robert D. Storrar
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Dynamic Response ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Water Pressure ◽  
Pressure Fluctuations ◽  
Drainage System ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Form Part ◽  
Subglacial Meltwater ◽  
Subglacial Drainage

Abstract. We identify and map traces of subglacial meltwater drainage around the former Keewatin Ice Divide, Canada from ArcticDEM data. Meltwater tracks, tunnel valleys and esker splays exhibit several key similarities, including width, spacing, their association with eskers and transitions to and from different types, which together suggest they form part of an integrated drainage signature. We collectively term these features 'meltwater corridors' and propose a new model for their formation, based on observations from contemporary ice masses, of pressure fluctuations surrounding a central conduit. We suggest that eskers record the imprint of a central conduit and meltwater corridors the interaction with the surrounding distributed drainage system. The widespread aerial coverage of meltwater corridors (5–36 % of the bed) provides constraints on the extent of basal uncoupling induced by basal water pressure fluctuations and variations in spatial distribution and evolution of the subglacial drainage system, which will modulate the ice dynamic response.

scholarly journals Oscillatory subglacial drainage in the absence of surface melt

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 959-976 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Schoof ◽  
C. A Rada ◽  
N. J. Wilson ◽  
G. E. Flowers ◽  
M. Haseloff
Keyword(s):  
Water Pressure ◽  
Drainage System ◽  
Yukon Territory ◽  
Strongly Correlated ◽  
Pressure Oscillations ◽  
Power Failure ◽  
Multiple Data ◽  
Data Loggers ◽  
Diurnal Cycling ◽  
Subglacial Drainage

Abstract. The presence of strong diurnal cycling in basal water pressure records obtained during the melt season is well established for many glaciers. The behaviour of the drainage system outside the melt season is less well understood. Here we present borehole observations from a surge-type valley glacier in the St Elias Mountains, Yukon Territory, Canada. Our data indicate the onset of strongly correlated multi-day oscillations in water pressure in multiple boreholes straddling a main drainage axis, starting several weeks after the disappearance of a dominant diurnal mode in August 2011 and persisting until at least January 2012, when multiple data loggers suffered power failure. Jökulhlaups provide a template for understanding spontaneous water pressure oscillations not driven by external supply variability. Using a subglacial drainage model, we show that water pressure oscillations can also be driven on a much smaller scale by the interaction between conduit growth and distributed water storage in smaller water pockets, basal crevasses and moulins, and that oscillations can be triggered when water supply drops below a critical value. We suggest this in combination with a steady background supply of water from ground water or englacial drainage as a possible explanation for the observed wintertime pressure oscillations.

scholarly journals Thermal structure and drainage system of a small valley glacier (Tellbreen, Svalbard), investigated by ground penetrating radar

2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Bælum ◽  
D. I. Benn
Keyword(s):  
Ground Penetrating Radar ◽  
Thermal Structure ◽  
Drainage System ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Differential Gps ◽  
Glacier Surface ◽  
Digital Elevation ◽  
Drainage Channels ◽  
Ground Penetrating ◽  
Subglacial Drainage

Abstract. Proglacial icings accumulate in front of many High Arctic glaciers during the winter months, as water escapes from englacial or subglacial storage. Such icings have been interpreted as evidence for warm-based subglacial conditions, but several are now known to occur in front of cold-based glaciers. In this study, we investigate the drainage system of Tellbreen, a 3.5 km long glacier in central Spitsbergen, where a large proglacial icing develops each winter, to determine the location and geometry of storage elements. Digital elevation models (DEMs) of the glacier surface and bed were constructed using maps, differential GPS and ground penetrating radar (GPR). Rates of surface lowering indicate that the glacier has a long-term mass balance of −0.6 ± 0.2 m/year. Englacial and subglacial drainage channels were mapped using GPR, showing that Tellbreen has a diverse drainage system that is capable of storing, transporting and releasing water year round. In the upper part of the glacier, drainage is mainly via supraglacial channels. These transition downglacier into shallow englacial "cut and closure" channels, formed by the incision and roof closure of supraglacial channels. Below thin ice near the terminus, these channels reach the bed and contain stored water throughout the winter months. Even though no signs of temperate ice were detected and the bed is below pressure-melting point, Tellbreen has a surface-fed, channelized subglacial drainage system, which allows significant storage and delayed discharge.

scholarly journals Englacial drainage structures in an East Antarctic outlet glacier

2019 ◽  
Vol 66 (255) ◽  
pp. 166-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Schaap ◽  
Michael J. Roach ◽  
Leo E. Peters ◽  
Sue Cook ◽  
Bernd Kulessa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drainage System ◽  
Austral Summer ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Radar Data ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Outlet Glacier ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Surface Mass ◽  
Hydrological System ◽  
Englacial Drainage

AbstractGround-penetrating radar data acquired in the 2016/17 austral summer on Sørsdal Glacier, East Antarctica, provide evidence for meltwater lenses within porous surface ice that are conceptually similar to firn aquifers observed on the Greenland Ice Sheet and the Arctic and Alpine glaciers. These englacial water bodies are associated with a dry relict surface basin and consistent with perennial drainage into an interconnected englacial drainage system, which may explain a large englacial outburst flood observed in satellite imagery in the early 2016/17 melt season. Our observations indicate the rarely-documented presence of an englacial hydrological system in Antarctica, with implications for the storage and routing of surface meltwater. Future work should ascertain the spatial prevalence of such systems around the Antarctic coastline, and identify the degree of surface runoff redistribution and storage in the near surface, to quantify their impact on surface mass balance.

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