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Title: Ice front change of marine-terminating outlet glaciers in northwest and southeast Greenland during the 21st century

Abstract

ABSTRACT The increasingly negative mass balance of the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) over the last ~25 years has been associated with enhanced surface melt and increased ice loss from marine-terminating outlet glaciers. Accelerated retreat during 2000–2010 was concentrated in the southeast and northwest sectors of the ice sheet; however, there was considerable spatial and temporal variability in the timing and magnitude of retreat both within and between these regions. This behaviour has yet to be quantified and compared for all glaciers in both regions. Furthermore, it is unclear whether retreat has continued after 2010 in the northwest, and whether the documented slowdown in the southeast post-2005 has been sustained. Here, we compare spatial and temporal patterns of frontal change in the northwest and southeast GrIS, for the period 2000–2015. Our results show near-ubiquitous retreat of outlet glaciers across both regions for the study period; however, the timing and magnitude of inter-annual frontal position change is largely asynchronous. We also find that since 2010, there is continued terminus retreat in the northwest, which contrasts with considerable inter-annual variability in the southeast. Analysis of the role of glacier-specific factors demonstrates that fjord and bed geometry are important controls on the timing andmore » magnitude of glacier retreat.« less

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [3]; ORCiD logo [2];  [4]
  1. Newcastle Univ., Newcastle upon Tyne (United Kingdom); Univ. of Edinburgh, Scotland (United Kingdom)
  2. Newcastle Univ., Newcastle upon Tyne (United Kingdom)
  3. Univ. of Edinburgh, Scotland (United Kingdom)
  4. Lancaster Univ. (United Kingdom)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1543601
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-05CH11231
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Journal of Glaciology
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 64; Journal Issue: 246; Journal ID: ISSN 0022-1430
Publisher:
International Glaciological Society
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; arctic glaciology; glacier fluctuations; glacier mapping; remote sensing

Citation Formats

Bunce, Charlie, Carr, J. Rachel, Nienow, Peter W., Ross, Neil, and Killick, Rebecca. Ice front change of marine-terminating outlet glaciers in northwest and southeast Greenland during the 21st century. United States: N. p., 2018. Web. doi:10.1017/jog.2018.44.
Bunce, Charlie, Carr, J. Rachel, Nienow, Peter W., Ross, Neil, & Killick, Rebecca. Ice front change of marine-terminating outlet glaciers in northwest and southeast Greenland during the 21st century. United States. https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2018.44
Bunce, Charlie, Carr, J. Rachel, Nienow, Peter W., Ross, Neil, and Killick, Rebecca. 2018. "Ice front change of marine-terminating outlet glaciers in northwest and southeast Greenland during the 21st century". United States. https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2018.44. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1543601.
@article{osti_1543601,
title = {Ice front change of marine-terminating outlet glaciers in northwest and southeast Greenland during the 21st century},
author = {Bunce, Charlie and Carr, J. Rachel and Nienow, Peter W. and Ross, Neil and Killick, Rebecca},
abstractNote = {ABSTRACT The increasingly negative mass balance of the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) over the last ~25 years has been associated with enhanced surface melt and increased ice loss from marine-terminating outlet glaciers. Accelerated retreat during 2000–2010 was concentrated in the southeast and northwest sectors of the ice sheet; however, there was considerable spatial and temporal variability in the timing and magnitude of retreat both within and between these regions. This behaviour has yet to be quantified and compared for all glaciers in both regions. Furthermore, it is unclear whether retreat has continued after 2010 in the northwest, and whether the documented slowdown in the southeast post-2005 has been sustained. Here, we compare spatial and temporal patterns of frontal change in the northwest and southeast GrIS, for the period 2000–2015. Our results show near-ubiquitous retreat of outlet glaciers across both regions for the study period; however, the timing and magnitude of inter-annual frontal position change is largely asynchronous. We also find that since 2010, there is continued terminus retreat in the northwest, which contrasts with considerable inter-annual variability in the southeast. Analysis of the role of glacier-specific factors demonstrates that fjord and bed geometry are important controls on the timing and magnitude of glacier retreat.},
doi = {10.1017/jog.2018.44},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1543601}, journal = {Journal of Glaciology},
issn = {0022-1430},
number = 246,
volume = 64,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue May 22 00:00:00 EDT 2018},
month = {Tue May 22 00:00:00 EDT 2018}
}

Journal Article:
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Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 27 works
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Works referenced in this record:

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journal, January 2011


Continued evolution of Jakobshavn Isbrae following its rapid speedup
journal, January 2008


Optimal Detection of Changepoints With a Linear Computational Cost
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journal, January 2011


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journal, January 2008


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journal, June 2011


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journal, April 2017


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journal, October 2012


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journal, May 2015


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journal, August 2013


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journal, February 2014


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journal, January 2008


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journal, December 2016


Contrasting Response of South Greenland Glaciers to Recent Climatic Change
journal, May 1992


Ocean forcing of the Greenland Ice Sheet: Calving fronts and patterns of retreat identified by automatic satellite monitoring of eastern outlet glaciers
journal, January 2011


Modelling calving front dynamics using a level-set method: application to Jakobshavn Isbræ, West Greenland
journal, January 2016


Improving Bed Topography Mapping of Greenland Glaciers Using NASA’s Oceans Melting Greenland (OMG) Data
journal, December 2016


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journal, January 2016


Basal topographic controls on rapid retreat of Humboldt Glacier, northern Greenland
journal, January 2015


The stability of grounding lines on retrograde slopes
journal, January 2012


Rapid submarine melting of the calving faces of West Greenland glaciers
journal, February 2010


Fast tidewater glaciers
journal, January 1987


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journal, March 2012


A simple mechanism for irreversible tidewater glacier retreat
journal, January 2007


Changes in ice front position on Greenland's outlet glaciers from 1992 to 2007
journal, January 2008


changepoint : An R Package for Changepoint Analysis
journal, January 2014


Ice-stream stability on a reverse bed slope
journal, October 2012


Evolving force balance at Columbia Glacier, Alaska, during its rapid retreat
journal, January 2005


A model for tidewater glacier undercutting by submarine melting
journal, March 2017


Calving on tidewater glaciers amplified by submarine frontal melting
text, January 2019


Ice-stream stability on a reverse bed slope
text, January 2012


Threefold increase in marine-terminating outlet glacier retreat rates across the Atlantic Arctic: 1992–2010
text, January 2017


High sensitivity of tidewater outlet glacier dynamics to shape
text, January 2013


Recent retreat of major outlet glaciers on Novaya Zemlya, Russian Arctic, influenced by fjord geometry and sea-ice conditions
text, January 2014


Basal topographic controls on rapid retreat of Humboldt Glacier, northern Greenland
text, January 2015


Bathymetric control of tidewater glacier mass loss in northwest Greenland
text, January 2014


Optimal detection of changepoints with a linear computational cost
text, January 2011


Rapid, climate-driven changes in outlet glaciers on the Pacific coast of East Antarctica
text, January 2013


Works referencing / citing this record:

Dynamic changes in outlet glaciers in northern Greenland from 1948 to 2015
journal, January 2018


Seasonal to decadal variability in ice discharge from the Greenland Ice Sheet
journal, January 2018


Velocity response of Petermann Glacier, northwest Greenland, to past and future calving events
journal, January 2018


Estimating Greenland tidewater glacier retreat driven by submarine melting
journal, January 2019