Ocean-Ice Interactions in Inglefield Gulf: Early Results from NASA’s Oceans Melting Greenland Mission
Tracy and Heilprin, marine-terminating glaciers that drain into the eastern end of Inglefield Gulf in northwest Greenland, exhibit remarkably different behaviors despite being adjacent systems. Losing mass since 1892, Tracy Glacier has dramatically accelerated, thinned, and retreated. Heilprin has r...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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The Oceanography Society
2018-06-01
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| Series: | Oceanography |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2018.211 |
| _version_ | 1818853178891829248 |
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| author | Josh Willis Dustin Carroll Ian Fenty Gurjot Kohli Ala Khazendar Matthew Rutherford Nicole Trenholm Mathieu Morlighem |
| author_facet | Josh Willis Dustin Carroll Ian Fenty Gurjot Kohli Ala Khazendar Matthew Rutherford Nicole Trenholm Mathieu Morlighem |
| author_sort | Josh Willis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Tracy and Heilprin, marine-terminating glaciers that drain into the eastern end of Inglefield Gulf in northwest Greenland, exhibit remarkably different behaviors despite being adjacent systems. Losing mass since 1892, Tracy Glacier has dramatically accelerated, thinned, and retreated. Heilprin has retreated only slightly during the last century and has remained almost stationary in the most recent decade. Previous studies suggest that Tracy’s base is deeper than Heilprin’s at the calving front (over 600 m, as opposed to the 350 m depth at Heilprin), which exposes it to warmer subsurface waters, resulting in more rapid retreat. We investigate the local oceanographic conditions in Inglefield Gulf and their interactions with Tracy and Heilprin using data collected in 2016 and 2017 as part of NASA’s Oceans Melting Greenland mission. Based on improved estimates of the fjord geometry and 20 temperature and salinity profiles near the fronts of these two glaciers, we find clear evidence that fjord waters are modified by ocean-ice interactions with Tracy Glacier. We find that Tracy thinned by 9.9 m near its terminus between 2016 and 2017, while Heilprin thinned by only 1.8 m. Using a simple subglacial plume model, we find that Tracy’s deeper depth at the front results in a more vigorous entrainment of warm subsurface waters, leading to more rapid melting. Model results support the hypothesis that Tracy’s deeper front results in faster glacier retreat, despite the presence of a shallow sill (~300 m) that may prevent the warmest waters from reaching Tracy. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T07:32:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1bc614bdabda47f9bff70831b20420e7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1042-8275 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T07:32:42Z |
| publishDate | 2018-06-01 |
| publisher | The Oceanography Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Oceanography |
| spelling | doaj.art-1bc614bdabda47f9bff70831b20420e72022-12-21T20:30:39ZengThe Oceanography SocietyOceanography1042-82752018-06-0131210010810.5670/oceanog.2018.211Ocean-Ice Interactions in Inglefield Gulf: Early Results from NASA’s Oceans Melting Greenland MissionJosh Willis 0Dustin Carroll 1Ian Fenty 2Gurjot Kohli 3Ala Khazendar 4Matthew Rutherford 5Nicole Trenholm 6Mathieu Morlighem7Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of TechnologyJet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of TechnologyJet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of TechnologyUniversity of California Los Angeles, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Ocean Research ProjectOcean Research ProjectUniversity of California, IrvineTracy and Heilprin, marine-terminating glaciers that drain into the eastern end of Inglefield Gulf in northwest Greenland, exhibit remarkably different behaviors despite being adjacent systems. Losing mass since 1892, Tracy Glacier has dramatically accelerated, thinned, and retreated. Heilprin has retreated only slightly during the last century and has remained almost stationary in the most recent decade. Previous studies suggest that Tracy’s base is deeper than Heilprin’s at the calving front (over 600 m, as opposed to the 350 m depth at Heilprin), which exposes it to warmer subsurface waters, resulting in more rapid retreat. We investigate the local oceanographic conditions in Inglefield Gulf and their interactions with Tracy and Heilprin using data collected in 2016 and 2017 as part of NASA’s Oceans Melting Greenland mission. Based on improved estimates of the fjord geometry and 20 temperature and salinity profiles near the fronts of these two glaciers, we find clear evidence that fjord waters are modified by ocean-ice interactions with Tracy Glacier. We find that Tracy thinned by 9.9 m near its terminus between 2016 and 2017, while Heilprin thinned by only 1.8 m. Using a simple subglacial plume model, we find that Tracy’s deeper depth at the front results in a more vigorous entrainment of warm subsurface waters, leading to more rapid melting. Model results support the hypothesis that Tracy’s deeper front results in faster glacier retreat, despite the presence of a shallow sill (~300 m) that may prevent the warmest waters from reaching Tracy.https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2018.211OMGOceans Melting GreenlandGreenlandTracy glacierHeilprin |
| spellingShingle | Josh Willis Dustin Carroll Ian Fenty Gurjot Kohli Ala Khazendar Matthew Rutherford Nicole Trenholm Mathieu Morlighem Ocean-Ice Interactions in Inglefield Gulf: Early Results from NASA’s Oceans Melting Greenland Mission Oceanography OMG Oceans Melting Greenland Greenland Tracy glacier Heilprin |
| title | Ocean-Ice Interactions in Inglefield Gulf: Early Results from NASA’s Oceans Melting Greenland Mission |
| title_full | Ocean-Ice Interactions in Inglefield Gulf: Early Results from NASA’s Oceans Melting Greenland Mission |
| title_fullStr | Ocean-Ice Interactions in Inglefield Gulf: Early Results from NASA’s Oceans Melting Greenland Mission |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ocean-Ice Interactions in Inglefield Gulf: Early Results from NASA’s Oceans Melting Greenland Mission |
| title_short | Ocean-Ice Interactions in Inglefield Gulf: Early Results from NASA’s Oceans Melting Greenland Mission |
| title_sort | ocean ice interactions in inglefield gulf early results from nasa s oceans melting greenland mission |
| topic | OMG Oceans Melting Greenland Greenland Tracy glacier Heilprin |
| url | https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2018.211 |
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