Articles | Volume 11, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2773-2017
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2773-2017
Research article
 | 
05 Dec 2017
Research article |  | 05 Dec 2017

Satellite-derived submarine melt rates and mass balance (2011–2015) for Greenland's largest remaining ice tongues

Nat Wilson, Fiammetta Straneo, and Patrick Heimbach

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Cited articles

Brunt, K. M., Fricker, H. A., Padman, L., Scambos, T. A., and O'Neel, S.: Mapping the grounding zone of the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica, using ICESat laser altimetry, Ann. Glaciol., 51, 71–79, https://doi.org/10.3189/172756410791392790, 2010.
Debella-Gilo, M. and Kääb, A.: Sub-pixel precision image matching for measuring surface displacements on mass movements using normalized cross-correlation, Remote Sens. Environ., 115, 130–142, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2010.08.012, 2011.
Dupont, T. K. and Alley, R. B.: Assessment of the importance of ice-shelf buttressing to ice-sheet flow, Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, L04503, https://doi.org/10.1029/2004gl022024, 2005.
Dutrieux, P., Vaughan, D. G., Corr, H. F. J., Jenkins, A., Holland, P. R., Joughin, I., and Fleming, A. H.: Pine Island glacier ice shelf melt distributed at kilometre scales, The Cryosphere, 7, 1543–1555, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-1543-2013, 2013.
Dutrieux, P., De Rydt, J., Jenkins, A., Holland, P. R., Ha, H. K., Lee, S. H., Steig, E. J., Ding, Q., Abrahamsen, E. P., and Schröder, M.: Strong sensitivity of Pine Island ice-shelf melting to climatic variability, Science, 343, 174–178, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1244341, 2014.
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Short summary
We estimate submarine melt rates from ice tongues in northern Greenland using WorldView satellite imagery. At Ryder Glacier, melt is strongly concentrated around regions where subglacier channels likely enter the fjord. At the 79 North Glacier, we find a large volume imbalance in which melting removes a greater quantity of ice than is replaced by inflow over the grounding line. This leads us to suggest that a reduction in the spatial extent of the ice tongue is possible over the coming decade.
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