Statistical appraisal of geothermal heat flow observations in the Arctic
<p>Geothermal heat flow is an important boundary condition for ice sheets, affecting, for example, basal melt rates, but for ice-covered regions, we only have sparse heat flow observations with partly high uncertainty of up to 30 m W m<span class="inline-formula"><sup>−2&...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2024-04-01
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| Series: | Solid Earth |
| Online Access: | https://se.copernicus.org/articles/15/513/2024/se-15-513-2024.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797216274018729984 |
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| author | J. Freienstein W. Szwillus A. Wansing J. Ebbing |
| author_facet | J. Freienstein W. Szwillus A. Wansing J. Ebbing |
| author_sort | J. Freienstein |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>Geothermal heat flow is an important boundary condition for ice sheets, affecting, for example, basal melt rates, but for ice-covered regions, we only have sparse heat flow observations with partly high uncertainty of up to 30 m W m<span class="inline-formula"><sup>−2</sup></span>. In this study, we first investigate the agreement between such pointwise heat flow observations and solid Earth models, applying a 1D steady-state approach to perform a statistical analysis for the entire Arctic region. We find that most of the continental heat flow observations have a high reliability and agreement to solid Earth models, except a few data points, such as, for example, the NGRIP (North Greenland Ice Core Project) point in central Greenland.</p>
<p>For further testing, we perform a conditional simulation with focus on Greenland in which the local characteristics of heat flow structures can be considered. Simple kriging shows that including or excluding the less reliable NGRIP point has a large influence on the surrounding heat flow. The geostatistical analysis with the conditional simulation supports the assumption that NGRIP might not only be problematic for representing a regional feature but likely is an outlier. Basal melt estimates show that such a local spot of high heat flow results in local high basal melt rates but leads to less variation than existing geophysical models.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T11:43:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0f218b0fec484ca09c35d1342381feb8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1869-9510 1869-9529 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T11:43:21Z |
| publishDate | 2024-04-01 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Solid Earth |
| spelling | doaj.art-0f218b0fec484ca09c35d1342381feb82024-04-09T13:07:12ZengCopernicus PublicationsSolid Earth1869-95101869-95292024-04-011551353310.5194/se-15-513-2024Statistical appraisal of geothermal heat flow observations in the ArcticJ. FreiensteinW. SzwillusA. WansingJ. Ebbing<p>Geothermal heat flow is an important boundary condition for ice sheets, affecting, for example, basal melt rates, but for ice-covered regions, we only have sparse heat flow observations with partly high uncertainty of up to 30 m W m<span class="inline-formula"><sup>−2</sup></span>. In this study, we first investigate the agreement between such pointwise heat flow observations and solid Earth models, applying a 1D steady-state approach to perform a statistical analysis for the entire Arctic region. We find that most of the continental heat flow observations have a high reliability and agreement to solid Earth models, except a few data points, such as, for example, the NGRIP (North Greenland Ice Core Project) point in central Greenland.</p> <p>For further testing, we perform a conditional simulation with focus on Greenland in which the local characteristics of heat flow structures can be considered. Simple kriging shows that including or excluding the less reliable NGRIP point has a large influence on the surrounding heat flow. The geostatistical analysis with the conditional simulation supports the assumption that NGRIP might not only be problematic for representing a regional feature but likely is an outlier. Basal melt estimates show that such a local spot of high heat flow results in local high basal melt rates but leads to less variation than existing geophysical models.</p>https://se.copernicus.org/articles/15/513/2024/se-15-513-2024.pdf |
| spellingShingle | J. Freienstein W. Szwillus A. Wansing J. Ebbing Statistical appraisal of geothermal heat flow observations in the Arctic Solid Earth |
| title | Statistical appraisal of geothermal heat flow observations in the Arctic |
| title_full | Statistical appraisal of geothermal heat flow observations in the Arctic |
| title_fullStr | Statistical appraisal of geothermal heat flow observations in the Arctic |
| title_full_unstemmed | Statistical appraisal of geothermal heat flow observations in the Arctic |
| title_short | Statistical appraisal of geothermal heat flow observations in the Arctic |
| title_sort | statistical appraisal of geothermal heat flow observations in the arctic |
| url | https://se.copernicus.org/articles/15/513/2024/se-15-513-2024.pdf |
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