Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Article
  • Published:

Inland thinning on the Greenland ice sheet controlled by outlet glacier geometry

Nature Geoscience volume 10, pages 366–369 (2017)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Greenland’s contribution to future sea-level rise remains uncertain and a wide range of upper and lower bounds has been proposed. These predictions depend strongly on how mass loss—which is focused at the termini of marine-terminating outlet glaciers—can penetrate inland to the ice-sheet interior. Previous studies have shown that, at regional scales, Greenland ice sheet mass loss is correlated with atmospheric and oceanic warming. However, mass loss within individual outlet glacier catchments exhibits unexplained heterogeneity, hindering our ability to project ice-sheet response to future environmental forcing. Using digital elevation model differencing, we spatially resolve the dynamic portion of surface elevation change from 1985 to present within 16 outlet glacier catchments in West Greenland, where significant heterogeneity in ice loss exists. We show that the up-glacier extent of thinning and, thus, mass loss, is limited by glacier geometry. We find that 94% of the total dynamic loss occurs between the terminus and the location where the down-glacier advective speed of a kinematic wave of thinning is at least three times larger than its diffusive speed. This empirical threshold enables the identification of glaciers that are not currently thinning but are most susceptible to future thinning in the coming decades.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Dynamic surface elevation change and mass loss.
Figure 2: Centreline profile of Kangilernata Sermia (KAN).
Figure 3: Péclet number running maxima and percentage unit volume loss.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Wouters, B., Chambers, D. & Schrama, E. J. O. GRACE observes small-scale mass loss in Greenland. Geophys. Res. Lett. 35, L20501 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Harig, C. & Simons, F. J. Mapping Greenland’s mass loss in space and time. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 109, 19934–19937 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Schrama, E. J. O. & Wouters, B. Revisiting Greenland ice sheet mass loss observed by GRACE. J. Geophys. Res. 116, B02407 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Velicogna, I., Sutterley, T. C. & van den Broeke, M. R. Regional acceleration in ice mass loss from Greenland and Antarctica using GRACE time-variable gravity data. Geophys. Res. Lett. 41, 8130–8137 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Murray, T. et al. Extensive retreat of Greenland tidewater glaciers, 2000–2010. Arct. Antarct. Alp. Res. 47, 427–447 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Csatho, B. M. et al. Laser altimetry reveals complex pattern of Greenland ice sheet dynamics. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 111, 18478–18483 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Moon, T., Joughin, I., Smith, B. & Howat, I. 21st-century evolution of Greenland outlet glacier velocities. Science 336, 576–578 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Kjaer, K. H. et al. Aerial photographs reveal late-20th-century dynamic ice loss in northwestern Greenland. Science 337, 569–573 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Howat, I. M., Joughin, I., Fahnestock, M., Smith, B. E. & Scambos, T. A. Synchronous retreat and acceleration of southeast Greenland outlet glaciers 2000–06 ice dynamics and coupling to climate. J. Glaciol. 54, 646–660 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Bevan, S. L., Luckman, A. J. & Murray, T. Glacier dynamics over the last quarter of a century at Helheim, Kangerdlugssuaq and 14 other major Greenland outlet glaciers. Cryosphere 6, 923–937 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Khan, S. A. et al. Sustained mass loss of the northeast Greenland ice sheet triggered by regional warming. Nat. Clim. Change 4, 292–299 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Enderlin, E. M. et al. An improved mass budget for the Greenland ice sheet. Geophys. Res. Lett. 41, 866–872 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Price, S. F., Payne, A. J., Howat, I. M. & Smith, B. E. Committed sea-level rise for the next century from Greenland ice sheet dynamics during the past decade. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 108, 8978–8983 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Nick, F. M., Vieli, A., Howat, I. M. & Joughin, I. Large-scale changes in Greenland outlet glacier dynamics triggered at the terminus. Nat. Geosci. 2, 110–114 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Konrad, H. et al. Uneven onset and pace of ice-dynamical imbalance in the Amundsen Sea Embayment, West Antarctica. Geophys. Res. Lett. 44, 910–918 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Pfeffer, W. T., Harper, J. T. & O’Neel, S. Kinematic constraints on glacier contributions to 21st-century sea-level rise. Science 321, 1340–1343 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Nick, F. M. et al. Future sea-level rise from Greenland’s main outlet glaciers in a warming climate. Nature 497, 235–238 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Moore, J. C., Grinsted, A., Zwinger, T. & Jevrejeva, S. Semiempirical and process-based global sea level projections. Rev. Geophys. 51, 484–522 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Korsgaard, N. J. et al. Digital elevation model and orthophotographs of Greenland based on aerial photographs from 1978–1987. Sci. Data 3, 160032 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Morlighem, M., Rignot, E. & Willis, J. Improving bed topography mapping of Greenland glaciers using NASA’s Oceans Melting Greenland (OMG) data. Oceanography 29, 62–71 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Nye, J. F. The response of glaciers and ice-sheets to seasonal and climatic changes. Proc. R. Soc. A 256, 559–584 (1960).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Pritchard, H. D., Arthern, R. J., Vaughan, D. G. & Edwards, L. A. Extensive dynamic thinning on the margins of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. Nature 461, 971–975 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Pfeffer, W. T. A simple mechanism for irreversible tidewater glacier retreat. J. Geophys. Res. 112, F03S25 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. van der Veen, C. J. Greenland ice sheet response to external forcing. J. Geophys. Res. 106, 34047–34058 (2001).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Howat, I. M., Negrete, A. & Smith, B. E. The Greenland Ice Mapping Project (GIMP) land classification and surface elevation data sets. Cryosphere 8, 1509–1518 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Shean, D. E. et al. An automated open-source pipeline for mass production of digital elevation models (DEMs) from very-high-resolution commercial stereo satellite imagery. Int. Soc. Photogramm. 116, 101–117 (2016).

    Google Scholar 

  27. Rignot, E., Box, J. E., Burgess, E. & Hanna, E. Mass balance of the Greenland ice sheet from 1958 to 2007. Geophys. Res. Lett. 35, L20502 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Noël, B. et al. Evaluation of the updated regional climate model RACMO2.3: summer snowfall impact on the Greenland ice sheet. Cryosphere 9, 1831–1844 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Cuffey, K. M. & Paterson, W. S. B. The Physics of GlaciersChap. 11 (Academic, 2010).

    Google Scholar 

  30. Kamb, B. & Echelmeyer, K. A. Stress-gradient coupling in glacier flow: I. Longitudinal averaging of the influence of ice thickness and surface slope. J. Glaciol. 32, 267–284 (1986).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Polar Geospatial Center for providing the WorldView stereo imagery. This work was funded by NASA Grant NNX12AP50G, by funding from the University of Texas Aerospace Engineering department, and a University of Texas Institute for Geophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship to T.C.B.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Timothy C. Bartholomaus

    Present address: Present address: Department of Geological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho 83844, USA.,

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Geophysics, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78758, USA

    Denis Felikson, Timothy C. Bartholomaus & Ginny A. Catania

  2. Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78705, USA

    Denis Felikson

  3. Department of Geological Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78705, USA

    Ginny A. Catania

  4. Nordic Volcanological Center, Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Iceland, IS-101 Reykjavik, Iceland

    Niels J. Korsgaard

  5. Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen 1350, Denmark

    Kurt H. Kjær

  6. Department of Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine, California 92697, USA

    Mathieu Morlighem

  7. Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht, Utrecht University, 3584 CC Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Brice Noël & Michiel van den Broeke

  8. Department of Geology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045, USA

    Leigh A. Stearns

  9. College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331, USA

    Emily L. Shroyer & Jonathan D. Nash

  10. Department of Geological Sciences, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403, USA

    David A. Sutherland

Authors
  1. Denis Felikson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Timothy C. Bartholomaus
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ginny A. Catania
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Niels J. Korsgaard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Kurt H. Kjær
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Mathieu Morlighem
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Brice Noël
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Michiel van den Broeke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Leigh A. Stearns
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Emily L. Shroyer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. David A. Sutherland
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. Jonathan D. Nash
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

D.F., T.C.B. and G.A.C. designed the study. D.F. created the WorldView DEMs, calculated catchment mass changes, and performed the kinematic wave analysis. D.F., T.C.B. and G.A.C. interpreted the results. N.J.K. and K.H.K. created the 1985 DEM. M.M. processed the mass-conserving bed for the study region. B.N. and M.v.d.B. provided downscaled SMB data. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Denis Felikson.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Information (PDF 6166 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Felikson, D., Bartholomaus, T., Catania, G. et al. Inland thinning on the Greenland ice sheet controlled by outlet glacier geometry. Nature Geosci 10, 366–369 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2934

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2934

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing