Articles | Volume 15, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-897-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-897-2021
Research article
 | 
19 Feb 2021
Research article |  | 19 Feb 2021

The cooling signature of basal crevasses in a hard-bedded region of the Greenland Ice Sheet

Ian E. McDowell, Neil F. Humphrey, Joel T. Harper, and Toby W. Meierbachtol

Download

Interactive discussion

Status: closed
Status: closed
AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment
Printer-friendly Version - Printer-friendly version Supplement - Supplement

Peer-review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision
ED: Reconsider after major revisions (further review by editor and referees) (23 Nov 2020) by Ginny Catania
AR by Ian McDowell on behalf of the Authors (21 Dec 2020)  Author's response   Author's tracked changes   Manuscript 
ED: Referee Nomination & Report Request started (04 Jan 2021) by Ginny Catania
RR by Samuel Doyle (17 Jan 2021)
ED: Publish subject to technical corrections (19 Jan 2021) by Ginny Catania
AR by Ian McDowell on behalf of the Authors (22 Jan 2021)  Author's response   Manuscript 
Download
Short summary
Ice temperature controls rates of internal deformation and the onset of basal sliding. To identify heat transfer mechanisms and englacial heat sources within Greenland's ablation zone, we examine a 2–3-year continuous temperature record from nine full-depth boreholes. Thermal decay after basal crevasses release heat in the near-basal ice likely produces the observed cooling. Basal crevasses in Greenland can affect the basal ice rheology and indicate a potentially complex basal hydrologic system.