Glacier algae accelerate melt rates on the south-western Greenland Ice Sheet

Cook, Joseph M.; Tedstone, Andrew J.; Williamson, Christopher; McCutcheon, Jenine; Hodson, Andrew J.; Dayal, Archana; Skiles, McKenzie; Hofer, Stefan; Bryant, Robert; McAree, Owen; McGonigle, Andrew; Ryan, Jonathan; Anesio, Alexandre M.; Irvine-Fynn, Tristram D. L.; Hubbard, Alun; Hanna, Edward; Flanner, Mark; Mayanna, Sathish; Benning, Liane G.; van As, Dirk; Yallop, Marian; McQuaid, James B.; Gribbin, Thomas; Tranter, Martyn

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-309-2020

Articles | Volume 14, issue 1

The Cryosphere, 14, 309–330, 2020

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-309-2020

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

The Cryosphere, 14, 309–330, 2020

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-309-2020

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

Articles | Volume 14, issue 1

Research article 29 Jan 2020

Research article | 29 Jan 2020

Glacier algae accelerate melt rates on the south-western Greenland Ice Sheet

Joseph M. Cook et al.

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-309-2020-supplement

Data sets

Field and other associated data J. Cook, C. Williamson, A. Tedstone, and J. McCutcheon https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3564501

Model code and software

BioSNICAR_GO codes J. Cook, C. Williamson, A. Tedstone, and J. McCutcheon https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3564517

Ice surface classification codes J. M. Cook, A. J. Tedstone, A. J. Williamson, and J. McCutcheon https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3564529

Spectra processing codes J. M. Cook https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2598219

Short summary

Melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) is a major source of uncertainty for sea level rise projections. Ice-darkening due to the growth of algae has been recognized as a potential accelerator of melting. This paper measures and models the algae-driven ice melting and maps the algae over the ice sheet for the first time. We estimate that as much as 13 % total runoff from the south-western GrIS can be attributed to these algae, showing that they must be included in future mass balance models.