Publication Date
12-1-2023
Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Nature Communications
Volume
14
Issue
1
DOI
10.1038/s41467-023-42198-2
Abstract
The glaciers of North Greenland are hosting enough ice to raise sea level by 2.1 m, and have long considered to be stable. This part of Greenland is buttressed by the last remaining ice shelves of the ice sheet. Here, we show that since 1978, ice shelves in North Greenland have lost more than 35% of their total volume, three of them collapsing completely. For the floating ice shelves that remain we observe a widespread increase in ice shelf mass losses, that are dominated by enhanced basal melting rates. Between 2000 and 2020, there was a widespread increase in basal melt rates that closely follows a rise in the ocean temperature. These glaciers are showing a direct dynamical response to ice shelf changes with retreating grounding lines and increased ice discharge. These results suggest that, under future projections of ocean thermal forcing, basal melting rates will continue to rise or remain at high level, which may have dramatic consequences for the stability of Greenlandic glaciers.
Funding Number
101003536
Funding Sponsor
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Department
Moss Landing Marine Laboratories
Recommended Citation
R. Millan, E. Jager, J. Mouginot, M. H. Wood, S. H. Larsen, P. Mathiot, N. C. Jourdain, and A. Bjørk. "Rapid disintegration and weakening of ice shelves in North Greenland" Nature Communications (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-42198-2
