the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Extreme melting at Greenland’s largest floating ice tongue
Abstract. The 79° North Glacier (Nioghalvfjerdsbrae, 79NG) is one of three remaining glaciers with a floating tongue in Greenland. Although the glacier was considered exceptionally stable in the past, earlier studies indicate that the ice tongue has thinned in recent decades. By conducting high-resolution ground-based and airborne radar measurements in conjunction with satellite remote sensing observations, we find significant changes in the geometry of 79NG. In the vicinity of the grounding line, a 500 m high subglacial channel has grown since ~2010 and caused surface lowering of up to 7.6 m a-1. Our results show extreme basal melt rates exceeding 150 m a-1 within a distance of 5 km from the grounding line, where the ice has thinned by 42 % since 1998. We found a heterogeneous distribution of melt rates likely due to variability in water column thickness and channelization of the ice base. Time series of melt rates show a decrease in basal melting since 2018, indicating an inflow of colder water into the cavity below 79NG. We discuss the processes that have led to the changes in geometry and conclude that the inflow of warm ocean currents has led to the extensive thinning of 79NG's floating ice tongue near the grounding line in the last two decades. In contrast, we hypothesize that the growth of the channel results from increased subglacial discharge due to a considerably enlarged area of summer surface melt due to the warming of the atmosphere.
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Notice on discussion status
The requested preprint has a corresponding peer-reviewed final revised paper. You are encouraged to refer to the final revised version.
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Preprint
(12490 KB)
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The requested preprint has a corresponding peer-reviewed final revised paper. You are encouraged to refer to the final revised version.
- Preprint
(12490 KB) - Metadata XML
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- Final revised paper
Journal article(s) based on this preprint
Interactive discussion
Status: closed
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RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2023-1320', Anonymous Referee #1, 31 Aug 2023
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AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Ole Zeising, 15 Sep 2023
Dear Reviewer,
We are grateful for this review that improves the quality of the manuscript! We will follow your major comments and will expand the introduction and discussion regarding the description of channelized and surface melting with references to further literature. Additionally, we will include the discussion of the ocean heat flux in the main discussion. However, we see some limitations in using ApRES results for the comparison with surface-based methods which we explain in more detail in the attached file.
We also picked up the suggestion to include a modification of the ApRES figure in the Methods section.In the attached file, we respond to the major comments and give point-to-point answers to the minor comments.
Again many thanks for your efforts to improve our manuscript!
Best regards,
Ole
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AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Ole Zeising, 15 Sep 2023
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RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2023-1320', Christoph Mayer, 04 Sep 2023
The comment was uploaded in the form of a supplement: https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2023/egusphere-2023-1320/egusphere-2023-1320-RC2-supplement.pdf
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AC2: 'Reply on RC2', Ole Zeising, 15 Sep 2023
Dear Reviewer, dear Christoph,
Thank you for your very helpful contribution to improving this manuscript.
In the attached file, we respond to the major comment and give point-to-point answers to the minor comments.
Again many thanks for your efforts to improve our manuscript!
Best regards,
Ole
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AC2: 'Reply on RC2', Ole Zeising, 15 Sep 2023
Interactive discussion
Status: closed
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RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2023-1320', Anonymous Referee #1, 31 Aug 2023
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AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Ole Zeising, 15 Sep 2023
Dear Reviewer,
We are grateful for this review that improves the quality of the manuscript! We will follow your major comments and will expand the introduction and discussion regarding the description of channelized and surface melting with references to further literature. Additionally, we will include the discussion of the ocean heat flux in the main discussion. However, we see some limitations in using ApRES results for the comparison with surface-based methods which we explain in more detail in the attached file.
We also picked up the suggestion to include a modification of the ApRES figure in the Methods section.In the attached file, we respond to the major comments and give point-to-point answers to the minor comments.
Again many thanks for your efforts to improve our manuscript!
Best regards,
Ole
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AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Ole Zeising, 15 Sep 2023
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RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2023-1320', Christoph Mayer, 04 Sep 2023
The comment was uploaded in the form of a supplement: https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2023/egusphere-2023-1320/egusphere-2023-1320-RC2-supplement.pdf
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AC2: 'Reply on RC2', Ole Zeising, 15 Sep 2023
Dear Reviewer, dear Christoph,
Thank you for your very helpful contribution to improving this manuscript.
In the attached file, we respond to the major comment and give point-to-point answers to the minor comments.
Again many thanks for your efforts to improve our manuscript!
Best regards,
Ole
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AC2: 'Reply on RC2', Ole Zeising, 15 Sep 2023
Peer review completion
Post-review adjustments
Journal article(s) based on this preprint
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Cited
1 citations as recorded by crossref.
Niklas Neckel
Nils Dörr
Veit Helm
Daniel Steinhage
Ralph Timmermann
Angelika Humbert
The requested preprint has a corresponding peer-reviewed final revised paper. You are encouraged to refer to the final revised version.
- Preprint
(12490 KB) - Metadata XML