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Letter

Nature Geoscience 1, 659–664 (1 October 2008) | doi:10.1038/ngeo316

Acceleration of Jakobshavn Isbr|[aelig]||[nbsp]|triggered by warm subsurface ocean waters

David M. Holland , Robert H. Thomas , Brad de Young , Mads H. Ribergaard & Bjarne Lyberth

Observations over the past decades show a rapid acceleration of several outlet glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica. One of the largest changes is a sudden switch of Jakobshavn Isbr|[aelig]|, a large outlet glacier feeding a deep-ocean fjord on Greenland|[rsquo]|s west coast, from slow thickening to rapid thinning in 1997, associated with a doubling in glacier velocity.