Supraglacial forcing of subglacial drainage in the ablation zone of the Greenland ice sheet

Ian Bartholomew; Peter Nienow; Andrew Sole; Douglas Mair; Thomas Cowton; Steven Palmer; Jemma Wadham

doi:10.1029/2011GL047063

Supraglacial forcing of subglacial drainage in the ablation zone of the Greenland ice sheet

Ian Bartholomew, Peter Nienow, Andrew Sole, Douglas Mair, Thomas Cowton, Steven Palmer, Jemma Wadham

Geography & Environment

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Abstract

We measure hydrological parameters in meltwater draining from an outlet glacier in west Greenland to investigate seasonal changes in the structure and behaviour of the hydrological system of a large catchment in the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS). Our data reveal seasonal upglacier expansion and increase in hydraulic efficiency of the subglacial drainage system, across a catchment >600 km(2), to distances >50 km from the ice-sheet margin. This expansion occurs episodically in response to the drainage of surface meltwaters into a hitherto inefficient subglacial drainage system as new input locations become active progressively further upglacier; this system is similar to Alpine glaciers. These observations provide the first synopsis of seasonal hydrological behaviour in the ablation zone of the GrIS. Citation: Bartholomew, I., P. Nienow, A. Sole, D. Mair, T. Cowton, S. Palmer, and J. Wadham (2011), Supraglacial forcing of subglacial drainage in the ablation zone of the Greenland ice sheet, Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L08502, doi: 10.1029/2011GL047063.

Original language	English
Article number	L08502
Number of pages	5
Journal	Geophysical Research Letters
Volume	38
Issue number	8
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1029/2011GL047063
Publication status	Published - 21 Apr 2011

Keywords

seasonal evolution
basal sediment
surface melt
glacier
system
acceleration
configuration
lakes

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10.1029/2011GL047063

Bartholomew et al, 2011 GRL
An edited version of this paper was published by AGU. Copyright (2011) American Geophysical Union Bartholomew, I. et al (2011), Supraglacial forcing of subglacial drainage in the ablation zone of the Greenland ice sheet, Geophysical Reseach Letters, 38, DOI:10.1029/2011GL047063. To view the published open abstract, go to http://dx.doi.org and enter the DOI.
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title = "Supraglacial forcing of subglacial drainage in the ablation zone of the Greenland ice sheet",

abstract = "We measure hydrological parameters in meltwater draining from an outlet glacier in west Greenland to investigate seasonal changes in the structure and behaviour of the hydrological system of a large catchment in the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS). Our data reveal seasonal upglacier expansion and increase in hydraulic efficiency of the subglacial drainage system, across a catchment >600 km(2), to distances >50 km from the ice-sheet margin. This expansion occurs episodically in response to the drainage of surface meltwaters into a hitherto inefficient subglacial drainage system as new input locations become active progressively further upglacier; this system is similar to Alpine glaciers. These observations provide the first synopsis of seasonal hydrological behaviour in the ablation zone of the GrIS. Citation: Bartholomew, I., P. Nienow, A. Sole, D. Mair, T. Cowton, S. Palmer, and J. Wadham (2011), Supraglacial forcing of subglacial drainage in the ablation zone of the Greenland ice sheet, Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L08502, doi: 10.1029/2011GL047063.",

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AU - Bartholomew, Ian

AU - Nienow, Peter

AU - Sole, Andrew

AU - Mair, Douglas

AU - Cowton, Thomas

AU - Palmer, Steven

AU - Wadham, Jemma

PY - 2011/4/21

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N2 - We measure hydrological parameters in meltwater draining from an outlet glacier in west Greenland to investigate seasonal changes in the structure and behaviour of the hydrological system of a large catchment in the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS). Our data reveal seasonal upglacier expansion and increase in hydraulic efficiency of the subglacial drainage system, across a catchment >600 km(2), to distances >50 km from the ice-sheet margin. This expansion occurs episodically in response to the drainage of surface meltwaters into a hitherto inefficient subglacial drainage system as new input locations become active progressively further upglacier; this system is similar to Alpine glaciers. These observations provide the first synopsis of seasonal hydrological behaviour in the ablation zone of the GrIS. Citation: Bartholomew, I., P. Nienow, A. Sole, D. Mair, T. Cowton, S. Palmer, and J. Wadham (2011), Supraglacial forcing of subglacial drainage in the ablation zone of the Greenland ice sheet, Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L08502, doi: 10.1029/2011GL047063.

AB - We measure hydrological parameters in meltwater draining from an outlet glacier in west Greenland to investigate seasonal changes in the structure and behaviour of the hydrological system of a large catchment in the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS). Our data reveal seasonal upglacier expansion and increase in hydraulic efficiency of the subglacial drainage system, across a catchment >600 km(2), to distances >50 km from the ice-sheet margin. This expansion occurs episodically in response to the drainage of surface meltwaters into a hitherto inefficient subglacial drainage system as new input locations become active progressively further upglacier; this system is similar to Alpine glaciers. These observations provide the first synopsis of seasonal hydrological behaviour in the ablation zone of the GrIS. Citation: Bartholomew, I., P. Nienow, A. Sole, D. Mair, T. Cowton, S. Palmer, and J. Wadham (2011), Supraglacial forcing of subglacial drainage in the ablation zone of the Greenland ice sheet, Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L08502, doi: 10.1029/2011GL047063.

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KW - basal sediment

KW - surface melt

KW - glacier

KW - system

KW - acceleration

KW - configuration

KW - lakes

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DO - 10.1029/2011GL047063

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JO - Geophysical Research Letters

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IS - 8

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ER -

Supraglacial forcing of subglacial drainage in the ablation zone of the Greenland ice sheet

Abstract

Keywords

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