The Cryosphere
The Cryosphere
TC
Articles | Volume 13, issue 9
Articles | Volume 13, issue 9
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2303-2019
© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2303-2019
© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 13, issue 9
Research article
 | 
05 Sep 2019
Research article |  | 05 Sep 2019

Impact of warming shelf waters on ice mélange and terminus retreat at a large SE Greenland glacier

Suzanne L. Bevan, Adrian J. Luckman, Douglas I. Benn, Tom Cowton, and Joe Todd

Data sets

Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier Sentinel 1 Synthetic Aperture Radar movie, 2015-2018 S. Bevan, A. Luckman, D. Benn, T. Cowton, and J. Todd https://doi.org/10.5285/61100705-dfbc-489d-b729-1268ec743bbf

Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier ice front positions, 1985-2018 S. Bevan, A. Luckman, D. Benn, T. Cowton, and J. Todd https://doi.org/10.5285/b317f707-2ef6-449c-acc3-6bb087efecb1

Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier surface elevations, 2012-2018 S. Bevan, A. Luckman, D. Benn, T. Cowton, and J. Todd https://doi.org/10.5285/3bbacca6-d2cd-46be-b824-b828572ca486

Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier surface flow speeds from feature tracking, 1985-2018 S. Bevan, A. Luckman, D. Benn, T. Cowton, and J. Todd https://doi.org/10.5285/c26e3873-e33e-45be-b76b-87f3b8827101

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Short summary
Kangerlussuaq Glacier in Greenland retreated significantly in the early 2000s and typified the response of calving glaciers to climate change. Satellite images show that it has recently retreated even further. The current retreat follows the appearance of extremely warm surface waters on the continental shelf during the summer of 2016, which likely entered the fjord and caused the rigid mass of sea ice and icebergs, which normally inhibits calving, to melt and break up.
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