Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2424
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2424
08 Jul 2025
 | 08 Jul 2025

The terrestrial ice margin morphology in Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland)

Jakob Steiner, Jakob Abermann, and Rainer Prinz

Abstract. The Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) and its peripheral glaciers and ice caps (PGIC) have received a lot of attention with respect to its marine-terminating, and considerably less for the remaining sections ending on land or in lakes. While the dominant part of ice mass imbalance is driven by calving at marine termini, a large part of the mass loss is caused by surface melt, leaving via those latter less studied margins. Relying on ice masks and a dataset for lake distribution we for the first time provide an assessment of the lengths of marine-, land- and lake-terminating margins across Greenland, showing that over a total length of 76154 km and 174425 km, for GrIS and PGIC respectively, 96.4 % (93.1 % and 97.8 %) of the margin is land-terminating, with the marine- and lake-terminating margin making up only 2.2 % (3.6 and 1.6 %) and 1.4 % (3.3 and 0.6 %). We also show that the ArcticDEM product is able to capture margin morphologies across large parts of the land-terminating margin, identifying 28.4 % as near-vertical features over shallow terrain, confirming earlier hypothesis of a large prevalence of these extremely steep features. 13.4 % are identified as steep (∼20–45°) and 17.3 % as shallow ramps (<20°). These data provide a basis to investigate the reason for surface morphology differences at terrestrial ice margins.

Publisher's note: Copernicus Publications remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims made in the text, published maps, institutional affiliations, or any other geographical representation in this paper. While Copernicus Publications makes every effort to include appropriate place names, the final responsibility lies with the authors. Views expressed in the text are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher.
Share

Journal article(s) based on this preprint

25 Mar 2026
| Highlight paper
The terrestrial ice margin morphology in Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland)
Jakob Steiner, Jakob Abermann, and Rainer Prinz
The Cryosphere, 20, 1797–1814, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-1797-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-1797-2026, 2026
Short summary Editorial statement
Jakob Steiner, Jakob Abermann, and Rainer Prinz

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • CC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-2424', Jonathan Ryan, 13 Aug 2025
  • RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-2424', Erin Pettit, 17 Sep 2025
  • RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-2424', Anders Bjork, 09 Oct 2025

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • CC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-2424', Jonathan Ryan, 13 Aug 2025
  • RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-2424', Erin Pettit, 17 Sep 2025
  • RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-2424', Anders Bjork, 09 Oct 2025

Peer review completion

AR – Author's response | RR – Referee report | ED – Editor decision | EF – Editorial file upload
ED: Publish subject to minor revisions (review by editor) (21 Nov 2025) by Joseph MacGregor
AR by Jakob F. Steiner on behalf of the Authors (12 Jan 2026)  Author's response   Author's tracked changes   Manuscript 
ED: Publish subject to minor revisions (review by editor) (16 Jan 2026) by Joseph MacGregor
AR by Jakob F. Steiner on behalf of the Authors (05 Feb 2026)  Author's response   Author's tracked changes   Manuscript 
ED: Publish as is (05 Feb 2026) by Joseph MacGregor
AR by Jakob F. Steiner on behalf of the Authors (24 Feb 2026)  Author's response   Manuscript 

Post-review adjustments

AA – Author's adjustment | EA – Editor approval
AA by Jakob F. Steiner on behalf of the Authors (19 Mar 2026)   Author's adjustment   Manuscript
EA: Adjustments approved (19 Mar 2026) by Joseph MacGregor

Journal article(s) based on this preprint

25 Mar 2026
| Highlight paper
The terrestrial ice margin morphology in Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland)
Jakob Steiner, Jakob Abermann, and Rainer Prinz
The Cryosphere, 20, 1797–1814, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-1797-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-1797-2026, 2026
Short summary Editorial statement
Jakob Steiner, Jakob Abermann, and Rainer Prinz

Data sets

tIM - the Greenland ice margin repository Jakob Steiner, Jakob Abermann, Rainer Prinz https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15491607

Jakob Steiner, Jakob Abermann, and Rainer Prinz

Viewed

Total article views: 1,184 (including HTML, PDF, and XML)
HTML PDF XML Total Supplement BibTeX EndNote
922 209 53 1,184 202 50 52
  • HTML: 922
  • PDF: 209
  • XML: 53
  • Total: 1,184
  • Supplement: 202
  • BibTeX: 50
  • EndNote: 52
Views and downloads (calculated since 08 Jul 2025)
Cumulative views and downloads (calculated since 08 Jul 2025)

Viewed (geographical distribution)

Total article views: 1,182 (including HTML, PDF, and XML) Thereof 1,182 with geography defined and 0 with unknown origin.
Country # Views %
  • 1
1
 
 
 
 
Latest update: 11 Apr 2026
Download

The requested preprint has a corresponding peer-reviewed final revised paper. You are encouraged to refer to the final revised version.

Short summary
Ice in Greenland either ends in the ocean or on land and in lakes. We show that more than 95% of the margin ends on land. Ice ending in lakes is much rarer, but with 1.4% quite similar to the 2.2% ending in oceans. We also see that more than 20% of the margin ends in extremely steep, often vertical cliffs. We will now be able to compare these maps against local ice velocities, mass loss and climate to understand whether the margin shape teaches us something about the health of ice in the region.
Share