Relationship between flow speed variability of three tidewater glaciers and surface melt intensity in Greenland between 1979 and 2006

Abstract

The margin of the Greenland ice sheet has undergone rapid changes over the past decade as a result of the thinning, acceleration, and retreat of many fast-flowing tidewater outlet glaciers. Satellite observations show that three major tidewater outlet glaciers in Greenland retreated between 2000 and 2005, with synchronous increases in flow speed, causing a deficit in ice sheet mass budget and the potential for sea level rise. In this study, we investigated whether this acceleration was related to surface melt processes, and found that both flow speed and positive degree day (PDD) anomalies of the three glaciers varied together, indicating a causal relationship. Jakobshavn Isbr' had lower flow speeds before 2000, during which PDD anomalies were negative, except for modest warming in 1993 and 1995. From 1999-2000, during which it is thought a threshold was passed, the flow speed of the glacier started to increase. However, the two glaciers in east Greenland showed a delayed response. Abrupt warming occurred in the vicinity of the two glaciers around 2001, but flow speed did not increase until 2003 for the Helheim Glacier, and until 2004 for the Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier. Furthermore, the two eastern glaciers switched to a deceleration mode more quickly than Jakobshavn Isbr'. The observed differences in both acceleration and deceleration among the glaciers suggest that the relationship between surface melt and outlet glacier dynamics is not simple but complex.