Meltwater storage in low-density near-surface bare ice in the Greenland ice sheet ablation zone

Cooper, Matthew G.; Smith, Laurence C.; Rennermalm, Asa K.; Miège, Clément; Pitcher, Lincoln H.; Ryan, Jonathan C.; Yang, Kang; Cooley, Sarah W.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-955-2018

Articles | Volume 12, issue 3

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-955-2018

© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-955-2018

© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 12, issue 3

Research article

|

21 Mar 2018

Research article |

| 21 Mar 2018

Meltwater storage in low-density near-surface bare ice in the Greenland ice sheet ablation zone

Matthew G. Cooper, Laurence C. Smith, Asa K. Rennermalm, Clément Miège, Lincoln H. Pitcher, Jonathan C. Ryan, Kang Yang, and Sarah W. Cooley

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-955-2018-supplement

Data sets

Direct measurements of ice density at 1m depth in the Greenland Ice Sheet ablation zone during July 2016 from shallow ice cores Matthew G. Cooper, Laurence C. Smith, Asa K. Rennermalm, Clément Miège, Lincoln H. Pitcher, Johnny C. Ryan, Kang Yang, and Sarah Cooley https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.886744

Short summary

We present measurements of ice density that show the melting bare-ice surface of the Greenland ice sheet study site is porous and saturated with meltwater. The data suggest up to 18 cm of meltwater is temporarily stored within porous, low-density ice. The findings imply meltwater drainage off the ice sheet surface is delayed and that the surface mass balance of the ice sheet during summer cannot be estimated solely from ice surface elevation change measurements.