Sustained high winter glacier velocities from brief warm events
- Léo Decaux
, - Kenneth D Mankoff,
- Mariusz Grabiec,
- Joanna Tuszynska,
- Bartłomiej Luks,
- Jacek Adam Jania,
- Andreas Alexander
Léo Decaux
University of Silesia in Katowice, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Silesia in Katowice, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Institute of Earth Sciences
Corresponding Author:[email protected]
Author ProfileKenneth D Mankoff
Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland
Author ProfileMariusz Grabiec
University of Silesia in Katowice, University of Silesia in Katowice
Author ProfileJoanna Tuszynska
University of Silesia in Katowice, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Silesia in Katowice, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Institute of Earth Sciences
Author ProfileBartłomiej Luks
Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences
Author ProfileJacek Adam Jania
University of Silesia in Katowice, University of Silesia in Katowice
Author ProfileAbstract
A single week-long warm event in midwinter in Svalbard flooded an
inefficient en- and subglacial drainage system and led to a 2.5x
velocity increase that remained in effect for the remainder of the
winter - more than 3 months. Because of the long winter season, changes
in winter velocity have a large impact on the annual average velocity.
As the climate warms and surface melt and rain events increase during
winter months, sustained high winter glacier velocities are likely to
occur more often. Increasing glacier velocity near the terminus leads to
additional ice entering the fjord, and an increase of ice dynamics
contribution to sea level rise during winter.
