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| Titel |
Modelling the present and future behaviour of the glaciers terminating into Godthåbsfjord, West Greenland |
| VerfasserIn |
Antje Fitzner, Dorthe Dahl-Jensen |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2013
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 15 (2013) |
| Datensatznummer |
250071977
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| Zusammenfassung |
| The mass loss of the Greenland ice sheet is caused by changing surface mass balance, direct
melting on the surface, ice flow through the numerous outlet glaciers, and basal melt. The
largest outlet glaciers, like Jabobshavn Isbræ, are studied in great detail. However,
processes leading to their behaviour such as calving and basal melting are not well
understood.
In this study, we focus on the fjord system, Godthåbsfjord, near Nuuk in West Greenland.
Godthåbsfjord is a unique fjord with its length of about 300Â km and a shallow sill at the
fjord entrance that protects the fjord system. There are several tidewater glaciers
terminating into the fjord contributing to the fresh water content in the fjord. The largest
contributor is Kangiata Nun-ta Sermia (KNS). Also, comprehensive oceanographic
measurements in Godthåbsfjord are compared to link the ice sheet model to the fjord
system.
Here we aim to describe the present and future behaviour of KNS. The Parallel Ice Sheet
Model (PISM), developed at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, is used for the regional
modelling applied to the KNS drainage basin. Climatic forcing is provided by the
Danish Meteorological Institute in form of HIRHAM5 ERA-Interim reanalysis
model output covering the 1989 – 2011 period. PISM is able to show seasonal
variability in the modelled fluxes when monthly means of the climatic forcing are
applied.
Observed surface velocities from InSAR and GPSs, ice thickness, and solid ice flux
estimates at the terminus are used to determine the best parameter setting describing the
present state of KNS. Those settings are then used for future projections (until
2050) to estimate solid ice flux and basal melt, that enters the fjord system as fresh
water.
This study is conducted in affiliation with the Greenland Climate Research Centre in
Nuuk. |
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