Ice Thickness-Induced Variations in Effective Pressure and Basal Conditions Influence Seasonal and Multi-Annual Ice Velocity at Sermeq Kujalleq (Jakobshavn Isbræ)
Lu, Xi; Sole, Andrew; Livingstone, Stephen J.et al.
[en] Acceleration of Sermeq Kujalleq has been linked to the retreat of its calving front. However, models consistently underestimate its ice-flow variability, indicating that important physical processes might be ignored, which introduces uncertainties in projecting its future mass loss and sea-level rise contribution. Using the Ice-sheet and Sea-level System Model, we simulate Sermeq Kujalleq from 2016 to 2022 constrained by sub-monthly ice front positions. Changes in front position explain >76% of the velocity variations but with a spatially and seasonally varying misfit between modeled and observed velocities up to 30 km upstream. This misfit significantly correlates with variations in height above flotation within 10 km of the terminus. Incorporating these variations into the model by scaling the basal shear stress reduces the average misfit by over 90%. This indicates that seasonal variations in ice thickness-induced effective pressure and basal conditions play a crucial role in controlling intra-annual and longer-term ice-flow variations.
Disciplines :
Earth sciences & physical geography
Author, co-author :
Lu, Xi; State Key Laboratory of Precision Geodesy, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China ; College of Earth and Planetary Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China ; Department of Geography, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
Sole, Andrew ; Department of Geography, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
Livingstone, Stephen J. ; Department of Geography, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
Cheng, Gong ; Department of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, United States
Jiang, Liming ; State Key Laboratory of Precision Geodesy, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China ; College of Earth and Planetary Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Chudley, Tom ; Department of Geography, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
Noël, Brice ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de géographie > Climatologie et Topoclimatologie
Li, Daan; College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Yancheng Teachers University, Yancheng, China
Language :
English
Title :
Ice Thickness-Induced Variations in Effective Pressure and Basal Conditions Influence Seasonal and Multi-Annual Ice Velocity at Sermeq Kujalleq (Jakobshavn Isbræ)
Chinese Academy of Sciences F.R.S.-FNRS - Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique CSC - China Scholarship Council
Funding text :
This work was funded by the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant 2018YFC1406102 and 2017YFA0603103), the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant XDA19070104), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant 42174046). We also gratefully acknowledge financial support from China Scholarship Council. BN was funded by the Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique de Belgique (F.R.S.-FNRS). GC acknowledges support from the Novo Nordisk Foundation under the Challenge Programme 2023 (Grant NNF23OC00807040).This work was funded by the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant 2018YFC1406102 and 2017YFA0603103), the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant XDA19070104), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant 42174046). We also gratefully acknowledge financial support from China Scholarship Council. BN was funded by the Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique de Belgique (F.R.S.\u2010FNRS). GC acknowledges support from the Novo Nordisk Foundation under the Challenge Programme 2023 (Grant NNF23OC00807040).
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