Articles | Volume 16, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4379-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4379-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
19 Oct 2022
Research article |
| 19 Oct 2022
| 19 Oct 2022
In situ measurements of meltwater flow through snow and firn in the accumulation zone of the SW Greenland Ice Sheet
Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
Horst Machguth
Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
Andrew Tedstone
Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
Nicolas Jullien
Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
Nander Wever
Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA
Rolf Weingartner
Institute of Geography and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Ole Roessler
Institute of Geography and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
now at: German Federal Institute of Hydrology (BfG), Koblenz, Germany
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Philipp Wanner, Noemi Buri, Kevin Wyss, Andreas Zischg, Rolf Weingartner, Jan Baumgartner, Benjamin Berger, and Christoph Wanner
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2021-512, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2021-512, 2021
Preprint withdrawn
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In this study, we quantified the glacial meltwater contribution to mountainous streams using high-resolution stable water isotope analysis. The glacial meltwater made up almost 28 % of the annual mountainous stream discharges. This high contribution demonstrates that the mountainous streamflow regimes will change in the future when the glacial meltwater contribution will disappear due to global warming posing a major challenge for hydropower energy production in mountainous regions.
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Short summary
Meltwater runoff is one of the main contributors to mass loss on the Greenland Ice Sheet that influences global sea level rise. However, it remains unclear where meltwater runs off and what processes cause this. We measured the velocity of meltwater flow through snow on the ice sheet, which ranged from 0.17–12.8 m h−1 for vertical percolation and from 1.3–15.1 m h−1 for lateral flow. This is an important step towards understanding where, when and why meltwater runoff occurs on the ice sheet.
Meltwater runoff is one of the main contributors to mass loss on the Greenland Ice Sheet that...
