A decade of variability on Jakobshavn Isbræ: ocean temperatures pace speed through influence on mélange rigidity

Joughin, Ian; Shean, David E.; Smith, Benjamin E.; Floricioiu, Dana

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-211-2020

Articles | Volume 14, issue 1

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-211-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-211-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 14, issue 1

Research article

| Highlight paper

|

24 Jan 2020

Research article | Highlight paper |

| 24 Jan 2020

A decade of variability on Jakobshavn Isbræ: ocean temperatures pace speed through influence on mélange rigidity

Ian Joughin, David E. Shean, Benjamin E. Smith, and Dana Floricioiu

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Final revised paper (published on 24 Jan 2020)
Supplement to the final revised paper
Preprint (discussion started on 04 Sep 2019)
Supplement to the preprint

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment

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SC1: 'Short Comment on "A Decade of Variability on Jakobshavn Isbrae: Ocean Temperatures Pace Speed Through Influence on Mélange Rigidity" by Joughin et al.', Ala Khazendar, 23 Sep 2019
- AC1: 'Response to Comment by Khazendar, Willis, and Fenty', Ian Joughin, 08 Nov 2019
RC1: 'tc-2019-197 review', Adrian Luckman, 27 Sep 2019
- AC2: 'Response to Reviewer 1', Ian Joughin, 12 Nov 2019
RC2: 'review for A Decade of Variability on Jakobshavn Isbrae: Ocean Temperatures Pace Speed Through Influence on Mélange Rigidity by Joughin et al.', Anonymous Referee #2, 04 Oct 2019
- AC3: 'Response to Reviewer 2', Ian Joughin, 12 Nov 2019

Peer-review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision

ED: Publish subject to revisions (further review by editor and referees) (18 Nov 2019) by Olivier Gagliardini

AR by Ian Joughin on behalf of the Authors (28 Nov 2019) Author's response Manuscript

ED: Publish subject to technical corrections (03 Dec 2019) by Olivier Gagliardini

AR by Ian Joughin on behalf of the Authors (19 Dec 2019) Manuscript

Short summary

Jakobshavn Isbræ, considered to be Greenland's fastest glacier, has varied its speed and thinned dramatically since the 1990s. Here we examine the glacier's behaviour over the last decade to better understand this behaviour. We find that when the floating ice (mélange) in front of the glacier freezes in place during the winter, it can control the glacier's speed and thinning rate. A recently colder ocean has strengthened this mélange, allowing the glacier to recoup some of its previous losses.