Glacier geometry and flow speed determine how Arctic marine-terminating glaciers respond to lubricated beds

Zheng, Whyjay

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1431-2022

Articles | Volume 16, issue 4

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1431-2022

© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1431-2022

© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 16, issue 4

Research article

|

21 Apr 2022

Research article |

| 21 Apr 2022

Glacier geometry and flow speed determine how Arctic marine-terminating glaciers respond to lubricated beds

Whyjay Zheng

Data sets

whyjz/pejzero: Supplemental material for "Glacier geometry and flow speed determine how Arctic marine-terminating glaciers respond to lubricated beds" Whyjay Zheng https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5641953

Inland limits to diffusion of thinning along Greenland Ice Sheet outlet glaciers (v1.0) Denis Felikson, Ginny Catania, Timothy Bartholomaus, Mathieu Morlighem, and Brice Noël https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4284759

Greenland Marine-Terminating Glacier Retreat Data Michael Wood, Eric Rignot, Anders Bjørk, Michiel van den Broeke, Ian Fenty, Dimitris Menemenlis, Mathieu Morlighem, Jeremie Mouginot, Brice Noël, Bernd Scheuchl, Joshua Willis, Hong Zhang, Lu An, Cilan Cai, Emily Kane, Romain Millan, and Isabella Velicogna https://doi.org/10.7280/D1667W

Model code and software

whyjz/pejzero: Supplemental material for "Glacier geometry and flow speed determine how Arctic marine-terminating glaciers respond to lubricated beds" Whyjay Zheng https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5641953

dfelikson/GrIS-thinning-limits-and-knickpoints: Release v1.0 of GrIS-thinning-limits-and-knickpoints repository (v1.0) Denis Felikson https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4284715

Interactive computing environment

whyjz/pejzero: Supplemental material for "Glacier geometry and flow speed determine how Arctic marine-terminating glaciers respond to lubricated beds" Whyjay Zheng https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5641953

Short summary

A glacier can speed up when surface water reaches the glacier's bottom via crevasses and reduces sliding friction. This paper builds up a physical model and finds that thick and fast-flowing glaciers are sensitive to this friction disruption. The data from Greenland and Austfonna (Svalbard) glaciers over 20 years support the model prediction. To estimate the projected sea-level rise better, these sensitive glaciers should be frequently monitored for potential future instabilities.