Terminus thinning drives recent acceleration of a Greenlandic lake-terminating outlet glacier
Ice-contact proglacial lakes affect ice dynamics and the transition of glacier termini from land- to lake-terminating has been shown to cause ice flow acceleration. In recent decades, the number and size of Greenlandic ice-marginal lakes has increased, highlighting the need to further understand the...
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Cambridge University Press
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Journal of Glaciology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143024000303/type/journal_article |
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| author | Ed Holt Peter Nienow Encarni Medina-Lopez |
| author_facet | Ed Holt Peter Nienow Encarni Medina-Lopez |
| author_sort | Ed Holt |
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| description | Ice-contact proglacial lakes affect ice dynamics and the transition of glacier termini from land- to lake-terminating has been shown to cause ice flow acceleration. In recent decades, the number and size of Greenlandic ice-marginal lakes has increased, highlighting the need to further understand these lake-terminating ice-margins as their influence on ice sheet mass balance increases. Here, time series of satellite-derived observations of ice velocity, surface elevation, and terminus position were generated at a lake-terminating outlet glacier, Isortuarsuup Sermia, and the nearby land-terminating Kangaasarsuup Sermia in south-west Greenland. At Isortuarsuup Sermia, annual surface velocity at the terminus increased by a factor of 2.5 to 214 ± 4 m yr−1 (2013–2021), with the magnitude of this acceleration declining with distance up-glacier. Meanwhile, near-terminus surface elevation changed at a rate of −2.3 ± 1.1 m yr−1 (2012–2021). Conversely, velocity change at Kangaasarsuup Sermia was minimal, while surface elevation change was approximately half at comparable elevations (−1.2 ± 0.3 m yr−1). We attribute these dynamic differences to thinning at Isortuarsuup Sermia and subsequent retreat from a stabilising sublacustrine moraine, and emphasise the potential of proglacial lakes to enhance future rates of mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6f90ee3e02724c47aaa26b0f8db82fb6 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0022-1430 1727-5652 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
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| series | Journal of Glaciology |
| spelling | doaj-art-6f90ee3e02724c47aaa26b0f8db82fb62025-01-16T21:50:33ZengCambridge University PressJournal of Glaciology0022-14301727-56522024-01-017010.1017/jog.2024.30Terminus thinning drives recent acceleration of a Greenlandic lake-terminating outlet glacierEd Holt0https://orcid.org/0009-0009-0349-2139Peter Nienow1Encarni Medina-Lopez2School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UKSchool of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UKSchool of Engineering, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UKIce-contact proglacial lakes affect ice dynamics and the transition of glacier termini from land- to lake-terminating has been shown to cause ice flow acceleration. In recent decades, the number and size of Greenlandic ice-marginal lakes has increased, highlighting the need to further understand these lake-terminating ice-margins as their influence on ice sheet mass balance increases. Here, time series of satellite-derived observations of ice velocity, surface elevation, and terminus position were generated at a lake-terminating outlet glacier, Isortuarsuup Sermia, and the nearby land-terminating Kangaasarsuup Sermia in south-west Greenland. At Isortuarsuup Sermia, annual surface velocity at the terminus increased by a factor of 2.5 to 214 ± 4 m yr−1 (2013–2021), with the magnitude of this acceleration declining with distance up-glacier. Meanwhile, near-terminus surface elevation changed at a rate of −2.3 ± 1.1 m yr−1 (2012–2021). Conversely, velocity change at Kangaasarsuup Sermia was minimal, while surface elevation change was approximately half at comparable elevations (−1.2 ± 0.3 m yr−1). We attribute these dynamic differences to thinning at Isortuarsuup Sermia and subsequent retreat from a stabilising sublacustrine moraine, and emphasise the potential of proglacial lakes to enhance future rates of mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143024000303/type/journal_articleglacier monitoringice dynamicsice velocityremote sensing |
| spellingShingle | Ed Holt Peter Nienow Encarni Medina-Lopez Terminus thinning drives recent acceleration of a Greenlandic lake-terminating outlet glacier Journal of Glaciology glacier monitoring ice dynamics ice velocity remote sensing |
| title | Terminus thinning drives recent acceleration of a Greenlandic lake-terminating outlet glacier |
| title_full | Terminus thinning drives recent acceleration of a Greenlandic lake-terminating outlet glacier |
| title_fullStr | Terminus thinning drives recent acceleration of a Greenlandic lake-terminating outlet glacier |
| title_full_unstemmed | Terminus thinning drives recent acceleration of a Greenlandic lake-terminating outlet glacier |
| title_short | Terminus thinning drives recent acceleration of a Greenlandic lake-terminating outlet glacier |
| title_sort | terminus thinning drives recent acceleration of a greenlandic lake terminating outlet glacier |
| topic | glacier monitoring ice dynamics ice velocity remote sensing |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143024000303/type/journal_article |
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