Accelerated Volume Loss in Glacier Ablation Zones of NE Greenland, Little Ice Age to Present

Jonathan L. Carrivick; Clare M. Boston; Owen King; William H.M. James; Duncan J. Quincey; Mark W. Smith; Michael Grimes; Jeff Evans

doi:10.1029/2018GL081383

Accelerated Volume Loss in Glacier Ablation Zones of NE Greenland, Little Ice Age to Present

Jonathan L. Carrivick^*, Clare M. Boston, Owen King, William H.M. James, Duncan J. Quincey, Mark W. Smith, Michael Grimes, Jeff Evans

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Geography & Sustainable Development

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

29 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Mountain glaciers at the periphery of the Greenland ice sheet are a crucial freshwater and sediment source to the North Atlantic and strongly impact Arctic terrestrial, fjord, and coastal biogeochemical cycles. In this study we mapped the extent of 1,848 mountain glaciers in NE Greenland at the Little Ice Age. We determined area and volume changes for the time periods Little Ice Age to 1980s and 1980s to 2014 and equilibrium line altitudes. There was at least 172.76 ± 34.55-km ³ volume lost between 1910 and 1980s, that is, a rate of 2.61 ± 0.52 km ³ /year. Between 1980s and 2014 the volume lost was 90.55 ± 18.11 km ³ , that is, a rate of 3.22 ± 0.64 km ³ /year, implying an increase of ~23% in the rate of ice volume loss. Overall, at least ~7% of mass loss from Greenland mountain glaciers and ice caps has come from the NE sector.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1476-1484
Number of pages	9
Journal	Geophysical Research Letters
Volume	46
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL081383
Publication status	Published - 16 Feb 2019

Keywords

glacier
Greenland
Little Ice Age
proglacial
sea level
volume loss

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1029/2018GL081383

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title = "Accelerated Volume Loss in Glacier Ablation Zones of NE Greenland, Little Ice Age to Present",

abstract = " Mountain glaciers at the periphery of the Greenland ice sheet are a crucial freshwater and sediment source to the North Atlantic and strongly impact Arctic terrestrial, fjord, and coastal biogeochemical cycles. In this study we mapped the extent of 1,848 mountain glaciers in NE Greenland at the Little Ice Age. We determined area and volume changes for the time periods Little Ice Age to 1980s and 1980s to 2014 and equilibrium line altitudes. There was at least 172.76 ± 34.55-km 3 volume lost between 1910 and 1980s, that is, a rate of 2.61 ± 0.52 km 3 /year. Between 1980s and 2014 the volume lost was 90.55 ± 18.11 km 3 , that is, a rate of 3.22 ± 0.64 km 3 /year, implying an increase of ~23% in the rate of ice volume loss. Overall, at least ~7% of mass loss from Greenland mountain glaciers and ice caps has come from the NE sector. ",

keywords = "glacier, Greenland, Little Ice Age, proglacial, sea level, volume loss",

author = "Carrivick, {Jonathan L.} and Boston, {Clare M.} and Owen King and James, {William H.M.} and Quincey, {Duncan J.} and Smith, {Mark W.} and Michael Grimes and Jeff Evans",

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journal = "Geophysical Research Letters",

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T1 - Accelerated Volume Loss in Glacier Ablation Zones of NE Greenland, Little Ice Age to Present

AU - Carrivick, Jonathan L.

AU - Boston, Clare M.

AU - King, Owen

AU - James, William H.M.

AU - Quincey, Duncan J.

AU - Smith, Mark W.

AU - Grimes, Michael

AU - Evans, Jeff

PY - 2019/2/16

Y1 - 2019/2/16

N2 - Mountain glaciers at the periphery of the Greenland ice sheet are a crucial freshwater and sediment source to the North Atlantic and strongly impact Arctic terrestrial, fjord, and coastal biogeochemical cycles. In this study we mapped the extent of 1,848 mountain glaciers in NE Greenland at the Little Ice Age. We determined area and volume changes for the time periods Little Ice Age to 1980s and 1980s to 2014 and equilibrium line altitudes. There was at least 172.76 ± 34.55-km 3 volume lost between 1910 and 1980s, that is, a rate of 2.61 ± 0.52 km 3 /year. Between 1980s and 2014 the volume lost was 90.55 ± 18.11 km 3 , that is, a rate of 3.22 ± 0.64 km 3 /year, implying an increase of ~23% in the rate of ice volume loss. Overall, at least ~7% of mass loss from Greenland mountain glaciers and ice caps has come from the NE sector.

AB - Mountain glaciers at the periphery of the Greenland ice sheet are a crucial freshwater and sediment source to the North Atlantic and strongly impact Arctic terrestrial, fjord, and coastal biogeochemical cycles. In this study we mapped the extent of 1,848 mountain glaciers in NE Greenland at the Little Ice Age. We determined area and volume changes for the time periods Little Ice Age to 1980s and 1980s to 2014 and equilibrium line altitudes. There was at least 172.76 ± 34.55-km 3 volume lost between 1910 and 1980s, that is, a rate of 2.61 ± 0.52 km 3 /year. Between 1980s and 2014 the volume lost was 90.55 ± 18.11 km 3 , that is, a rate of 3.22 ± 0.64 km 3 /year, implying an increase of ~23% in the rate of ice volume loss. Overall, at least ~7% of mass loss from Greenland mountain glaciers and ice caps has come from the NE sector.

KW - glacier

KW - Greenland

KW - Little Ice Age

KW - proglacial

KW - sea level

KW - volume loss

U2 - 10.1029/2018GL081383

DO - 10.1029/2018GL081383

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85061194115

SN - 0094-8276

VL - 46

SP - 1476

EP - 1484

JO - Geophysical Research Letters

JF - Geophysical Research Letters

IS - 3

ER -

Accelerated Volume Loss in Glacier Ablation Zones of NE Greenland, Little Ice Age to Present

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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