Characteristic Depths, Fluxes, and Timescales for Greenland's Tidewater Glacier Fjords From Subglacial Discharge-Driven Upwelling During Summer

Slater，D. A.1,2,3; Carroll，D.4,5; Oliver，H.6; Hopwood，M. J.7; Straneo，F.3; Wood，M.5; Willis，J. K.5; Morlighem，M.8,9

2022-05-28

10.1029/2021GL097081

GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS   Impact Factor & Quartile

0094-8276

1944-8007

Greenland's glacial fjords are a key bottleneck in the earth system, regulating exchange of heat, freshwater and nutrients between the ice sheet and ocean and hosting societally important fisheries. We combine recent bathymetric, atmospheric, and oceanographic data with a buoyant plume model to show that summer subglacial discharge from 136 tidewater glaciers, amounting to 0.02 Sv of freshwater, drives 0.6–1.6 Sv of upwelling. Bathymetric analysis suggests that this is sufficient to renew most major fjords within a single summer, and that these fjords provide a path to the continental shelf that is deeper than 200 m for two-thirds of the glaciers. Our study provides a first pan-Greenland inventory of tidewater glacier fjords and quantifies regional and ice sheet-wide upwelling fluxes. This analysis provides important context for site-specific studies and is a step toward implementing fjord-scale heat, freshwater and nutrient fluxes in large-scale ice sheet and climate models.

fjord freshwater Greenland Ice Sheet plume subglacial discharge tidewater glacier

SCI ; EI

English

NI Journal Papers

Others

National Science Foundation[2020547];Natural Environment Research Council[NE/T011920/1];

WOS:000801847800001

20222312201538

Bathymetry ; Climate models ; Digital storage ; Earth system models ; Ice ; Nutrients ; Water

Meteorology:443 ; Oceanographic Techniques:471.3 ; Data Storage, Equipment and Techniques:722.1 ; Mathematics:921 ; Mechanical Variables Measurements:943.2

GEOSCIENCES

2-s2.0-85131313206

Scopus

1.School of Geosciences,University of Edinburgh,Edinburgh,United Kingdom
2.School of Geography and Sustainable Development,University of St Andrews,St Andrews,United Kingdom
3.Scripps Institution of Oceanography,University of California San Diego,La Jolla,United States
4.Moss Landing Marine Laboratories,San José State University,San Jose,United States
5.Jet Propulsion Laboratory,California Institute of Technology,Pasadena,United States
6.Department of Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering,Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution,Falmouth,United States
7.Department of Ocean Science and Engineering,Southern University of Science and Technology,Shenzhen,China
8.Department of Earth Sciences,Dartmouth College,Hanover,United States
9.Department of Earth System Science,University of California Irvine,Irvine,United States

Slater，D. A.,Carroll，D.,Oliver，H.,et al. Characteristic Depths, Fluxes, and Timescales for Greenland's Tidewater Glacier Fjords From Subglacial Discharge-Driven Upwelling During Summer[J]. GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS,2022,49(10).

Slater，D. A..,Carroll，D..,Oliver，H..,Hopwood，M. J..,Straneo，F..,...&Morlighem，M..(2022).Characteristic Depths, Fluxes, and Timescales for Greenland's Tidewater Glacier Fjords From Subglacial Discharge-Driven Upwelling During Summer.GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS,49(10).

Slater，D. A.,et al."Characteristic Depths, Fluxes, and Timescales for Greenland's Tidewater Glacier Fjords From Subglacial Discharge-Driven Upwelling During Summer".GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS 49.10(2022).