Articles | Volume 17, issue 11
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4535-2023
© Author(s) 2023. 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-17-4535-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
30 Oct 2023
Research article |
| 30 Oct 2023
| 30 Oct 2023
In situ 10Be modeling and terrain analysis constrain subglacial quarrying and abrasion rates at Sermeq Kujalleq (Jakobshavn Isbræ), Greenland
Brandon L. Graham
Department of Geology, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA
Jason P. Briner
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Geology, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA
Nicolás E. Young
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
Allie Balter-Kennedy
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
Michele Koppes
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Joerg M. Schaefer
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
Kristin Poinar
Department of Geology, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA
RENEW Institute, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA
Elizabeth K. Thomas
Department of Geology, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA
Related authors
No articles found.
Gordon Bromley, Greg Balco, Margaret Jackson, Allie Balter-Kennedy, and Holly Thomas
Clim. Past Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-2024-21, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-2024-21, 2024
Preprint under review for CP
Short summary
Short summary
We constructed a geologic record of East Antarctic Ice Sheet thickness from deposits at Otway Massif to assess directly how Earth’s largest ice sheet responds to warmer-than-present climate. Our record confirms the long-term dominance of a cold polar climate but lacks a clear ice sheet response to the Mid Pliocene Warm Period, a common analogue for the future. Instead, an absence of moraines from the Late Miocene-Early Pliocene suggests the ice sheet was less extensive than present at that time.
Joseph P. Tulenko, Jason P. Briner, Nicolás E. Young, and Joerg M. Schaefer
Clim. Past, 20, 625–636, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-625-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-625-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We take advantage of a site in Alaska – where climate records are limited and a former alpine glacier deposited a dense sequence of moraines spanning the full deglaciation – to construct a proxy summer temperature record. Building on age constraints for moraines in the valley, we reconstruct paleo-glacier surfaces and estimate the summer temperatures (relative to the Little Ice Age) for each moraine. The record suggests that the influence of North Atlantic climate forcing extended to Alaska.
Karlee K. Prince, Jason P. Briner, Caleb K. Walcott, Brooke M. Chase, Andrew L. Kozlowski, Tammy M. Rittenour, and Erica P. Yang
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2655, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2655, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We date Laurentide Ice Sheet retreat after the Last Glacial Maximum in western New York, USA. We apply radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminesce dating to glacial features. We find that ice began retreating shortly after 20 ka, but hummocky moraine stabilization is delayed until climate warming at ~15–14 ka.
Allie Balter-Kennedy, Joerg M. Schaefer, Greg Balco, Meredith A. Kelly, Michael R. Kaplan, Roseanne Schwartz, Bryan Oakley, Nicolás E. Young, Jean Hanley, and Arianna M. Varuolo-Clarke
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-241, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-241, 2024
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Climate of the Past (CP).
Short summary
Short summary
We date sedimentary deposits indicating the southeastern Laurentide Ice Sheet was at or near its southernmost extent from ~26,000 to 21,000 years ago when sea-level was lowest and other climate records indicate glacial conditions. Slow deglaciation began ~22,000 years ago alongside a slow but steady rise in modeled local summer temperature, but significant deglaciation in the region did not begin until ~18,000 years ago when atmospheric CO2 began to rise, signaling the end of the last ice age.
Paul R. Bierman, Andrew J. Christ, Catherine M. Collins, Halley M. Mastro, Juliana Souza, Pierre-Henri Blard, Stefanie Brachfeld, Zoe R. Courville, Tammy M. Rittenour, Elizabeth K. Thomas, Jean-Louis Tison, and Francois Fripiat
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2922, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2922, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In 1966, the US Army drilled through the Greenland Ice Sheet at Camp Century, Greenland; they recovered 3.44 meters of frozen sediment. Here, we decipher the material’s history. Water, flowing during a warm interglacial when the ice sheet melted from northwest Greenland, deposited the upper material which contains fossil plant and insect parts. The lower material, separated by more than a meter of ice with some sediment, is till, deposited by the ice sheet during a prior cold period.
Caleb K. Walcott, Jason P. Briner, Joseph P. Tulenko, and Stuart M. Evans
Clim. Past, 20, 91–106, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-91-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-91-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Available data suggest that Alaska was not as cold as many of the high-latitude areas of the Northern Hemisphere during the Last Ice Age. These results come from isolated climate records, climate models, and data synthesis projects. We used the extents of mountain glaciers during the Last Ice Age and Little Ice Age to show precipitation gradients across Alaska and provide temperature data from across the whole state. Our findings support a relatively warm Alaska during the Last Ice Age.
Celia Trunz, Kristin Poinar, Lauren C. Andrews, Matthew D. Covington, Jessica Mejia, Jason Gulley, and Victoria Siegel
The Cryosphere, 17, 5075–5094, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-5075-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-5075-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Models simulating water pressure variations at the bottom of glaciers must use large storage parameters to produce realistic results. Whether that storage occurs englacially (in moulins) or subglacially is a matter of debate. Here, we directly simulate moulin volume to constrain the storage there. We find it is not enough. Instead, subglacial processes, including basal melt and input from upstream moulins, must be responsible for stabilizing these water pressure fluctuations.
Gifford H. Miller, Simon L. Pendleton, Alexandra Jahn, Yafang Zhong, John T. Andrews, Scott J. Lehman, Jason P. Briner, Jonathan H. Raberg, Helga Bueltmann, Martha Raynolds, Áslaug Geirsdóttir, and John R. Southon
Clim. Past, 19, 2341–2360, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-2341-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-2341-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Receding Arctic ice caps reveal moss killed by earlier ice expansions; 186 moss kill dates from 71 ice caps cluster at 250–450, 850–1000 and 1240–1500 CE and continued expanding 1500–1880 CE, as recorded by regions of sparse vegetation cover, when ice caps covered > 11 000 km2 but < 100 km2 at present. The 1880 CE state approached conditions expected during the start of an ice age; climate models suggest this was only reversed by anthropogenic alterations to the planetary energy balance.
Adam C. Hawkins, Brian Menounos, Brent M. Goehring, Gerald Osborn, Ben M. Pelto, Christopher M. Darvill, and Joerg M. Schaefer
The Cryosphere, 17, 4381–4397, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4381-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4381-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Our study developed a record of glacier and climate change in the Mackenzie and Selwyn mountains of northwestern Canada over the past several hundred years. We estimate temperature change in this region using several methods and incorporate our glacier record with models of climate change to estimate how glacier volume in our study area has changed over time. Models of future glacier change show that our study area will become largely ice-free by the end of the 21st century.
Allie Balter-Kennedy, Joerg M. Schaefer, Roseanne Schwartz, Jennifer L. Lamp, Laura Penrose, Jennifer Middleton, Jean Hanley, Bouchaïb Tibari, Pierre-Henri Blard, Gisela Winckler, Alan J. Hidy, and Greg Balco
Geochronology, 5, 301–321, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-5-301-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-5-301-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Cosmogenic nuclides like 10Be are rare isotopes created in rocks exposed at the Earth’s surface and can be used to understand glacier histories and landscape evolution. 10Be is usually measured in the mineral quartz. Here, we show that 10Be can be reliably measured in the mineral pyroxene. We use the measurements to determine exposure ages and understand landscape processes in rocks from Antarctica that do not have quartz, expanding the use of this method to new rock types.
Jason P. Briner, Caleb K. Walcott, Joerg M. Schaefer, Nicolás E. Young, Joseph A. MacGregor, Kristin Poinar, Benjamin A. Keisling, Sridhar Anandakrishnan, Mary R. Albert, Tanner Kuhl, and Grant Boeckmann
The Cryosphere, 16, 3933–3948, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3933-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3933-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The 7.4 m of sea level equivalent stored as Greenland ice is getting smaller every year. The uncertain trajectory of ice loss could be better understood with knowledge of the ice sheet's response to past climate change. Within the bedrock below the present-day ice sheet is an archive of past ice-sheet history. We analyze all available data from Greenland to create maps showing where on the ice sheet scientists can drill, using currently available drills, to obtain sub-ice materials.
Lauren C. Andrews, Kristin Poinar, and Celia Trunz
The Cryosphere, 16, 2421–2448, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2421-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2421-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We introduce a model for moulin geometry motivated by the wide range of sizes and shapes of explored moulins. Moulins comprise 10–14 % of the Greenland englacial–subglacial hydrologic system and act as time-varying water storage reservoirs. Moulin geometry can vary approximately 10 % daily and over 100 % seasonally. Moulin shape modulates the efficiency of the subglacial system that controls ice flow and should thus be included in hydrologic models.
Joshua K. Cuzzone, Nicolás E. Young, Mathieu Morlighem, Jason P. Briner, and Nicole-Jeanne Schlegel
The Cryosphere, 16, 2355–2372, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2355-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2355-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We use an ice sheet model to determine what influenced the Greenland Ice Sheet to retreat across a portion of southwestern Greenland during the Holocene (about the last 12 000 years). Our simulations, constrained by observations from geologic markers, show that atmospheric warming and ice melt primarily caused the ice sheet to retreat rapidly across this domain. We find, however, that iceberg calving at the interface where the ice meets the ocean significantly influenced ice mass change.
Caleb K. Walcott, Jason P. Briner, James F. Baichtal, Alia J. Lesnek, and Joseph M. Licciardi
Geochronology, 4, 191–211, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-4-191-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-4-191-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We present a record of ice retreat from the northern Alexander Archipelago, Alaska. During the last ice age (~ 26 000–19 000 years ago), these islands were covered by the Cordilleran Ice Sheet. We tested whether islands were ice-free during the last ice age for human migrants moving from Asia to the Americas. We found that these islands became ice-free between ~ 15 100 years ago and ~ 16 000 years ago, and thus these islands were not suitable for human habitation during the last ice age.
Irene Schimmelpfennig, Joerg M. Schaefer, Jennifer Lamp, Vincent Godard, Roseanne Schwartz, Edouard Bard, Thibaut Tuna, Naki Akçar, Christian Schlüchter, Susan Zimmerman, and ASTER Team
Clim. Past, 18, 23–44, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-23-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-23-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Small mountain glaciers advance and recede as a response to summer temperature changes. Dating of glacial landforms with cosmogenic nuclides allowed us to reconstruct the advance and retreat history of an Alpine glacier throughout the past ~ 11 000 years, the Holocene. The results contribute knowledge to the debate of Holocene climate evolution, indicating that during most of this warm period, summer temperatures were similar to or warmer than in modern times.
Sandra M. Braumann, Joerg M. Schaefer, Stephanie M. Neuhuber, Christopher Lüthgens, Alan J. Hidy, and Markus Fiebig
Clim. Past, 17, 2451–2479, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-2451-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-2451-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Glacier reconstructions provide insights into past climatic conditions and elucidate processes and feedbacks that modulate the climate system both in the past and present. We investigate the transition from the last glacial to the current interglacial and generate beryllium-10 moraine chronologies in glaciated catchments of the eastern European Alps. We find that rapid warming was superimposed by centennial-scale cold phases that appear to have influenced large parts of the Northern Hemisphere.
Andrew J. Christ, Paul R. Bierman, Jennifer L. Lamp, Joerg M. Schaefer, and Gisela Winckler
Geochronology, 3, 505–523, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-3-505-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-3-505-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Cosmogenic nuclide surface exposure dating is commonly used to constrain the timing of past glacier extents. However, Antarctic exposure age datasets are often scattered and difficult to interpret. We compile new and existing exposure ages of a glacial deposit with independently known age constraints and identify surface processes that increase or reduce the likelihood of exposure age scatter. Then we present new data for a previously unmapped and undated older deposit from the same region.
Douglas P. Steen, Joseph S. Stoner, Jason P. Briner, and Darrell S. Kaufman
Geochronology Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-2021-19, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-2021-19, 2021
Publication in GChron not foreseen
Short summary
Short summary
Paleomagnetic data from Cascade Lake (Brooks Range, Alaska) extend the radiometric-based age model of the sedimentary sequence extending back 21 kyr. Correlated ages based on prominent features in paleomagnetic secular variations (PSV) diverge from the radiometric ages in the upper 1.6 m, by up to about 2000 years at around 4 ka. Four late Holocene cryptotephra in this section support the PSV chronology and suggest the influence of hard water or aged organic material.
Kristin Poinar and Lauren C. Andrews
The Cryosphere, 15, 1455–1483, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1455-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1455-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This study addresses Greenland supraglacial lake drainages. We analyze ice deformation associated with lake drainages over 18 summers to assess whether
precursorstrain-rate events consistently precede lake drainages. We find that currently available remote sensing data products cannot resolve these events, and thus we cannot predict future lake drainages. Thus, future avenues for evaluating this hypothesis will require major field-based GPS or photogrammetry efforts.
Svend Funder, Anita H. L. Sørensen, Nicolaj K. Larsen, Anders A. Bjørk, Jason P. Briner, Jesper Olsen, Anders Schomacker, Laura B. Levy, and Kurt H. Kjær
Clim. Past, 17, 587–601, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-587-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-587-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Cosmogenic 10Be exposure dates from outlying islets along 300 km of the SW Greenland coast indicate that, although affected by inherited 10Be, the ice margin here was retreating during the Younger Dryas. These results seem to be corroborated by recent studies elsewhere in Greenland. The apparent mismatch between temperatures and ice margin behaviour may be explained by the advection of warm water to the ice margin on the shelf and by increased seasonality, both caused by a weakened AMOC.
Nicolás E. Young, Alia J. Lesnek, Josh K. Cuzzone, Jason P. Briner, Jessica A. Badgeley, Alexandra Balter-Kennedy, Brandon L. Graham, Allison Cluett, Jennifer L. Lamp, Roseanne Schwartz, Thibaut Tuna, Edouard Bard, Marc W. Caffee, Susan R. H. Zimmerman, and Joerg M. Schaefer
Clim. Past, 17, 419–450, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-419-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-419-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Retreat of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) margin is exposing a bedrock landscape that holds clues regarding the timing and extent of past ice-sheet minima. We present cosmogenic nuclide measurements from recently deglaciated bedrock surfaces (the last few decades), combined with a refined chronology of southwestern Greenland deglaciation and model simulations of GrIS change. Results suggest that inland retreat of the southwestern GrIS margin was likely minimal in the middle to late Holocene.
Bronwen L. Konecky, Nicholas P. McKay, Olga V. Churakova (Sidorova), Laia Comas-Bru, Emilie P. Dassié, Kristine L. DeLong, Georgina M. Falster, Matt J. Fischer, Matthew D. Jones, Lukas Jonkers, Darrell S. Kaufman, Guillaume Leduc, Shreyas R. Managave, Belen Martrat, Thomas Opel, Anais J. Orsi, Judson W. Partin, Hussein R. Sayani, Elizabeth K. Thomas, Diane M. Thompson, Jonathan J. Tyler, Nerilie J. Abram, Alyssa R. Atwood, Olivier Cartapanis, Jessica L. Conroy, Mark A. Curran, Sylvia G. Dee, Michael Deininger, Dmitry V. Divine, Zoltán Kern, Trevor J. Porter, Samantha L. Stevenson, Lucien von Gunten, and Iso2k Project Members
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 2261–2288, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2261-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2261-2020, 2020
Joseph P. Tulenko, William Caffee, Avriel D. Schweinsberg, Jason P. Briner, and Eric M. Leonard
Geochronology, 2, 245–255, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-2-245-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-2-245-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We investigate the timing and rate of retreat for three alpine glaciers in the southern Rocky Mountains to test whether they followed the pattern of global climate change or were majorly influenced by regional forcing mechanisms. We find that the latter is most likely for these glaciers. Our conclusions are based on a new 10Be chronology of alpine glacier retreat. We quantify retreat rates for each valley using the BACON program in R, which may be of interest for the audience of Geochronology.
Allie Balter-Kennedy, Gordon Bromley, Greg Balco, Holly Thomas, and Margaret S. Jackson
The Cryosphere, 14, 2647–2672, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2647-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2647-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We describe new geologic evidence from Antarctica that demonstrates changes in East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) extent over the past ~ 15 million years. Our data show that the EAIS was a persistent feature in the Transantarctic Mountains for much of that time, including some (but not all) times when global temperature may have been warmer than today. Overall, our results comprise a long-term record of EAIS change and may provide useful constraints for ice sheet models and sea-level estimates.
Jacob Downs, Jesse Johnson, Jason Briner, Nicolás Young, Alia Lesnek, and Josh Cuzzone
The Cryosphere, 14, 1121–1137, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1121-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1121-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We use an inverse modeling approach based on the unscented transform (UT) and a new reconstruction of Holocene ice sheet retreat in western central Greenland to infer precipitation changes throughout the Holocene. Our results indicate that warming during the Holocene Thermal Maximum (HTM) was linked to elevated snowfall that slowed retreat despite high temperatures. We also find that the UT provides a computationally inexpensive approach to Bayesian inversion and uncertainty quantification.
Joshua K. Cuzzone, Nicole-Jeanne Schlegel, Mathieu Morlighem, Eric Larour, Jason P. Briner, Helene Seroussi, and Lambert Caron
The Cryosphere, 13, 879–893, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-879-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-879-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
We present ice sheet modeling results of ice retreat over southwestern Greenland during the last 12 000 years, and we also test the impact that model horizontal resolution has on differences in the simulated spatial retreat and its associated rate. Results indicate that model resolution plays a minor role in simulated retreat in areas where bed topography is not complex but plays an important role in areas where bed topography is complex (such as fjords).
Maxwell T. Cunningham, Colin P. Stark, Michael R. Kaplan, and Joerg M. Schaefer
Earth Surf. Dynam., 7, 147–169, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-7-147-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-7-147-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Glacial erosion is known to limit the height of midlatitude mountain ranges affected by substantial glaciation during cold periods. Our study examines this phenomenon in the tropics. A new form of hypsometric analysis, along with other evidence, of 10 tropical ranges reveals widespread signs of a perched glacial base level at the ELA. Although glacial influence is moderate to weak in these environments, the evidence suggests that glacial erosion acts to limit the height of tropical ranges.
Hans W. Linderholm, Marie Nicolle, Pierre Francus, Konrad Gajewski, Samuli Helama, Atte Korhola, Olga Solomina, Zicheng Yu, Peng Zhang, William J. D'Andrea, Maxime Debret, Dmitry V. Divine, Björn E. Gunnarson, Neil J. Loader, Nicolas Massei, Kristina Seftigen, Elizabeth K. Thomas, Johannes Werner, Sofia Andersson, Annika Berntsson, Tomi P. Luoto, Liisa Nevalainen, Saija Saarni, and Minna Väliranta
Clim. Past, 14, 473–514, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-473-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-473-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
This paper reviews the current knowledge of Arctic hydroclimate variability during the past 2000 years. We discuss the current state, look into the future, and describe various archives and proxies used to infer past hydroclimate variability. We also provide regional overviews and discuss the potential of furthering our understanding of Arctic hydroclimate in the past. This paper summarises the hydroclimate-related activities of the Arctic 2k group.
Joshua M. Maurer, Summer B. Rupper, and Joerg M. Schaefer
The Cryosphere, 10, 2203–2215, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2203-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2203-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
Here we utilize declassified spy satellite imagery to quantify ice volume loss of glaciers in the eastern Himalayas over approximately the last three decades. Clean-ice and debris-covered glaciers show similar magnitudes of ice loss, while calving glaciers are contributing a disproportionately large amount to total ice loss. Results highlight important physical processes affecting the ice mass budget and associated water resources in the Himalayas.
Shaun R. Eaves, Andrew N. Mackintosh, Brian M. Anderson, Alice M. Doughty, Dougal B. Townsend, Chris E. Conway, Gisela Winckler, Joerg M. Schaefer, Graham S. Leonard, and Andrew T. Calvert
Clim. Past, 12, 943–960, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-943-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-943-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
Geological evidence for past changes in glacier length provides a useful source of information about pre-historic climate change. We have used glacier modelling to show that air temperature reductions of −5 to −7 °C, relative to present, are required to simulate the glacial extent in the North Island, New Zealand, during the last ice age (approx. 20000 years ago). Our results provide data to assess climate model simulations, with the aim of determining the drivers of past natural climate change.
M. Chernos, M. Koppes, and R. D. Moore
The Cryosphere, 10, 87–102, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-87-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-87-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
Ice loss from calving and surface melt is estimated at lake-terminating Bridge Glacier, British Columbia, Canada, from 1984 to 2013. Since the glacier's terminus began to float in 1991, calving has accounted for 10-25% of the glacier's total ice loss below the ELA. Overall, calving is a relatively small component of ice loss and is expected to decrease in importance in the future as the glacier retreats onto dry land. Hence, projections of future retreat remain dependent on climatic conditions.
N. Chauché, A. Hubbard, J.-C. Gascard, J. E. Box, R. Bates, M. Koppes, A. Sole, P. Christoffersen, and H. Patton
The Cryosphere, 8, 1457–1468, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-1457-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-1457-2014, 2014
Related subject area
Discipline: Glaciers | Subject: Geomorphology
Asynchronous glacial dynamics of Last Glacial Maximum mountain glaciers in the Ikh Bogd Massif, Gobi Altai mountain range, southwestern Mongolia: aspect control on glacier mass balance
Comment on “Ice content and interannual water storage changes of an active rock glacier in the dry Andes of Argentina” by Halla et al. (2021)
Formation of glacier tables caused by differential ice melting: field observation and modelling
High-resolution inventory to capture glacier disintegration in the Austrian Silvretta
Glacial and geomorphic effects of a supraglacial lake drainage and outburst event, Everest region, Nepal Himalaya
Purevmaa Khandsuren, Yeong Bae Seong, Hyun Hee Rhee, Cho-Hee Lee, Mehmet Akif Sarikaya, Jeong-Sik Oh, Khadbaatar Sandag, and Byung Yong Yu
The Cryosphere, 17, 2409–2435, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2409-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2409-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Moraine is an awe-inspiring landscape in alpine areas and stores information on past climate. We measured the timing of moraine formation on the Ih Bogd Massif, southern Mongolia. Here, glaciers move synchronously as a response to changing climate; however, our glacier on the northern slope reached its maximum extent 3 millennia after the southern one. We ran a 2D ice surface model and found that the diachronous behavior of glaciers was real. Aspect also controls the mass of alpine glaciers.
W. Brian Whalley
The Cryosphere, 17, 699–700, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-699-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-699-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Examination of recent Google Earth images of glaciers and rock glaciers in the
Dry Andeshas sufficient detail to show surface meltwater pools. These pools have exposures of glacier ice that core the rock glaciers with volume loss. Such pools are seen on debris-covered glaciers and rock glaciers worldwide and cast doubt on the
permafrostorigin of rock glaciers.
Marceau Hénot, Vincent J. Langlois, Jérémy Vessaire, Nicolas Plihon, and Nicolas Taberlet
The Cryosphere, 16, 2617–2628, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2617-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2617-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Glacier tables are structures frequently encountered on temperate glaciers. They consist of a rock supported by a narrow ice foot which forms through differential melting of the ice. In this article, we investigate their formation by following their dynamics on the Mer de Glace (the Alps, France). We explain this phenomenon by a combination of the effect of turbulent flux, short-wave flux and direct solar radiation that sets a critical size above which a rock will form a glacier table.
Andrea Fischer, Gabriele Schwaizer, Bernd Seiser, Kay Helfricht, and Martin Stocker-Waldhuber
The Cryosphere, 15, 4637–4654, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4637-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4637-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Eastern Alpine glaciers have been receding since the Little Ice Age maximum, but until now the majority of glacier margins could be delineated unambiguously. Today the outlines of totally debris-covered glacier ice are fuzzy and raise the discussion if these features are still glaciers. We investigated the fate of glacier remnants with high-resolution elevation models, analyzing also thickness changes in buried ice. In the past 13 years, the 46 glaciers of Silvretta lost one-third of their area.
Evan S. Miles, C. Scott Watson, Fanny Brun, Etienne Berthier, Michel Esteves, Duncan J. Quincey, Katie E. Miles, Bryn Hubbard, and Patrick Wagnon
The Cryosphere, 12, 3891–3905, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3891-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3891-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
We use high-resolution satellite imagery and field visits to assess the growth and drainage of a lake on Changri Shar Glacier in the Everest region, and its impact. The lake filled and drained within 3 months, which is a shorter interval than would be detected by standard monitoring protocols, but forced re-routing of major trails in several locations. The water appears to have flowed beneath Changri Shar and Khumbu glaciers in an efficient manner, suggesting pre-existing developed flow paths.
Cited articles
Alley, R. B., Cuffey, K. M., and Zoet, L. K.: Glacial erosion: status and outlook, Ann. Glaciol., 60, 1–13, https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2019.38, 2019.
Anderson, R. S.: Evolution of lumpy glacial landscapes, Geology, 42, 679–682, https://doi.org/10.1130/G35537.1, 2014.
Anderson, R. S., Hallet, B., Walder, J., and Aubry, B. F.: Observations in a cavity beneath Grinnell Glacier, Earth Surf. Process. Landforms, 7, 63–70, https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.3290070108, 1982.
Andrews, L. C., Catania, G. A., Hoffman, M. J., Gulley, J. D., Lüthi, M. P., Ryser, C., Hawley, R. L., and Neumann, T. A.: Direct observations of evolving subglacial drainage beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet, Nature, 514, 80–83, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13796, 2014.
Balco, G.: Contributions and unrealized potential contributions of cosmogenic-nuclide exposure dating to glacier chronology, 1990–2010, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 30, 3–27, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.11.003, 2011.
Balco, G.: Production rate calculations for cosmic-ray-muon-produced 10Be and 26Al benchmarked against geological calibration data, Quat. Geochronol., 39, 150–173, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2017.02.001, 2017.
Balco, G., Stone, J. O., Lifton, N. A., and Dunai, T. J.: A complete and easily accessible means of calculating surface exposure ages or erosion rates from 10Be and 26Al measurements, Quat. Geochronol., 3, 174–195, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2007.12.001, 2008.
Balter-Kennedy, A., Young, N. E., Briner, J. P., Graham, B. L., and Schaefer, J. M.: Centennial- and Orbital-Scale Erosion Beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet Near Jakobshavn Isbræ, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 126, e2021JF006429, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JF006429, 2021.
Briner, J. P. and Swanson, T. W.: Using inherited cosmogenic 36Cl to constrain glacial erosion rates of the Cordilleran ice sheet, Geology, 26, 3–6, https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1998)026<0003:UICCTC>2.3.CO;2, 1998.
Briner, J. P., Stewart, H. A. M., Young, N. E., Philipps, W., and Losee, S.: Using proglacial-threshold lakes to constrain fluctuations of the Jakobshavn Isbræ ice margin, western Greenland, during the Holocene, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 29, 3861–3874, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.09.005, 2010.
Briner, J. P., Young, N. E., Thomas, E. K., Stewart, H. A. M., Losee, S., and Truex, S.: Varve and radiocarbon dating support the rapid advance of Jakobshavn Isbræ during the Little Ice Age, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 30, 2476–2486, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2011.05.017, 2011.
Cook, S. J., Swift, D. A., Kirkbride, M. P., Knight, P. G., and Waller, R. I.: The empirical basis for modelling glacial erosion rates, Nat. Commun., 11, 759, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-14583-8, 2020.
Corbett, L. B., Bierman, P. R., and Rood, D. H.: An approach for optimizing in situ cosmogenic 10Be sample preparation, Quat. Geochronol., 33, 24–34, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2016.02.001, 2016.
Cowton, T., Nienow, P., Bartholomew, I., Sole, A., and Mair, D.: Rapid erosion beneath the Greenland ice sheet, Geology, 40, 343–346, https://doi.org/10.1130/G32687.1, 2012.
Csatho, B., Schenk, T., Van Der Veen, C. J., and Krabill, W. B.: Intermittent thinning of Jakobshavn Isbrae, West Greenland, since the little ice age, J. Glaciol., 54, 131–144, https://doi.org/10.3189/002214308784409035, 2008.
Das, S. B., Joughin, I., Behn, M. D., Howat, I. M., King, M. A., Lizarralde, D., and Bhatia, M. P.: Fracture Propagation to the Base of the Greenland Ice Sheet During Supraglacial Lake Drainage, Science, 320, 778–781, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1153360, 2008.
Dühnforth, M., Anderson, R. S., Ward, D., and Stock, G. M.: Bedrock fracture control of glacial erosion processes and rates, Geology, 38, 423–426, https://doi.org/10.1130/G30576.1, 2010.
Dunai, T. J.: Cosmogenic Nuclides: Principles, Concepts and Applications in the Earth Surface Sciences, 1st edn., Cambridge University Press, https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511804519, 2010.
Egholm, D. L., Pedersen, V. K., Knudsen, M. F., and Larsen, N. K.: Coupling the flow of ice, water, and sediment in a glacial landscape evolution model, Geomorphology, 141–142, 47–66, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2011.12.019, 2012.
Gilbert, G. K.: Crescentic gouges on glaciated surfaces, Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 17, 303–316, https://doi.org/10.1130/GSAB-17-303, 1906.
Gosse, J. C. and Phillips, F. M.: Terrestrial in situ cosmogenic nuclides: theory and application, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 20, 1475–1560, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-3791(00)00171-2, 2001.
Graham, B.: w0gpr/Cosmo3D: v1.0.0, Zenodo [data set], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7858913, 2023.
Haario, H., Laine, M., Mira, A., and Saksman, E.: DRAM: Efficient adaptive MCMC, Stat. Comput., 16, 339–354, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11222-006-9438-0, 2006.
Hallet, B.: Glacial quarrying: a simple theoretical model, Ann. Glaciol., 22, 1–8, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0260305500015147, 1996.
Hallet, B., Hunter, L., and Bogen, J.: Rates of erosion and sediment evacuation by glaciers: A review of field data and their implications, Global Planet. Change, 12, 213–235, https://doi.org/10.1016/0921-8181(95)00021-6, 1996.
Harris Jr., S. E.: Friction cracks and the direction of glacial movement, J. Geol., 51, 244–258, https://doi.org/10.1086/625148, 1943.
Herman, F., De Doncker, F., Delaney, I., Prasicek, G., and Koppes, M.: The impact of glaciers on mountain erosion, Nat. Rev. Earth Environ., 2, 422–435, https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-021-00165-9, 2021.
Hogan, K. A., Cofaigh, C. Ó., Jennings, A. E., Dowdeswell, J. A., and Hiemstra, J. F.: Deglaciation of a major palaeo-ice stream in Disko Trough, West Greenland, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 147, 5–26, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2016.01.018, 2016.
Hogan, K. A., Jakobsson, M., Mayer, L., Reilly, B. T., Jennings, A. E., Stoner, J. S., Nielsen, T., Andresen, K. J., Nørmark, E., Heirman, K. A., Kamla, E., Jerram, K., Stranne, C., and Mix, A.: Glacial sedimentation, fluxes and erosion rates associated with ice retreat in Petermann Fjord and Nares Strait, north-west Greenland, The Cryosphere, 14, 261–286, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-261-2020, 2020.
Howat, I.: MEaSUREs Greenland Ice Velocity: Selected Glacier Site Velocity Maps from Optical Images, Version 3, NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center, Boulder, Colorado USA [data set], https://doi.org/10.5067/RRFY5IW94X5W, 2020.
Iverson, N. R.: Laboratory Simulations Of Glacial Abrasion: Comparison With Theory, J. Glaciol., 36, 304–314, https://doi.org/10.3189/002214390793701264, 1990.
Iverson, N. R.: A theory of glacial quarrying for landscape evolution models, Geology, 40, 679–682, https://doi.org/10.1130/G33079.1, 2012.
Kajanto, K., Seroussi, H., de Fleurian, B., and Nisancioglu, K. H.: Present day Jakobshavn Isbræ (West Greenland) close to the Holocene minimum extent, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 246, 106492, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106492, 2020.
Kjær, K. H., Bjørk, A. A., Kjeldsen, K. K., Hansen, E. S., Andresen, C. S., Siggaard-Andersen, M. L., Khan, S. A., Søndergaard, A. S., Colgan, W., Schomacker, A., and Woodroffe, S.: Glacier response to the Little Ice Age during the Neoglacial cooling in Greenland, Earth-Sci. Rev., 227, 103984, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2022.103984, 2022.
Kohl, C. P. and Nishiizumi, K.: Chemical isolation of quartz for measurement of in-situ-produced cosmogenic nuclides, Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac., 56, 3583–3587, https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(92)90401-4, 1992.
Koppes, M. N.: Rates and Processes of Glacial Erosion, in: Treatise on Geomorphology, Elsevier, 169–181, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-818234-5.00032-8, 2022.
Koppes, M. N. and Montgomery, D. R.: The relative efficacy of fluvial and glacial erosion over modern to orogenic timescales, Nat. Geosci., 2, 644–647, https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo616, 2009.
Krabbendam, M. and Glasser, N. F.: Glacial erosion and bedrock properties in NW Scotland: Abrasion and plucking, hardness and joint spacing, Geomorphology, 130, 374–383, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2011.04.022, 2011.
Krabbendam, M., Bradwell, T., Everest, J. D., and Eyles, N.: Joint-bounded crescentic scars formed by subglacial clast-bed contact forces: Implications for bedrock failure beneath glaciers, Geomorphology, 290, 114–127, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2017.03.021, 2017.
Loso, M. G., Anderson, R. S., and Anderson, S. P.: Post–Little Ice Age record of coarse and fine clastic sedimentation in an Alaskan proglacial lake, Geology, 32, 1065–1068, https://doi.org/10.1130/G20839.1, 2004.
Matthes, F. E.: Geologic history of the Yosemite Valley, US Geological Survey, https://doi.org/10.3133/pp160, 1930.
Nishiizumi, K., Imamura, M., Caffee, M. W., Southon, J. R., Finkel, R. C., and McAninch, J.: Absolute calibration of 10Be AMS standards, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms, 258, 403–413, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nimb.2007.01.297, 2007.
Overeem, I., Hudson, B. D., Syvitski, J. P. M., Mikkelsen, A. B., Hasholt, B., van den Broeke, M. R., Noël, B. P. Y., and Morlighem, M.: Substantial export of suspended sediment to the global oceans from glacial erosion in Greenland, Nat. Geosci., 10, 859–863, https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo3046, 2017.
Riihimaki, C. A.: Sediment evacuation and glacial erosion rates at a small alpine glacier, J. Geophys. Res., 110, F03003, https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JF000189, 2005.
Ugelvig, S. V., Egholm, D. L., Anderson, R. S., and Iverson, N. R.: Glacial erosion driven by variations in meltwater drainage, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 123, 2863–2877, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JF004680, 2018.
Weidick, A. and Bennike, O.: Quaternary glaciation history and glaciology of Jakobshavn Isbræ and the Disko Bugt region, West Greenland: a review, GEUS Bulletin, 14, 1–78, https://doi.org/10.34194/geusb.v14.4985, 2007.
Weidick, A., Oerter, H., Reeh, N., Thomsen, H. H., and Thorning, L.: The recession of the Inland Ice margin during the Holocene climatic optimum in the Jakobshavn Isfjord area of West Greenland, Global Planet. Change, 2, 389–399, https://doi.org/10.1016/0921-8181(90)90010-A, 1990.
Young, N. E., Briner, J. P., Stewart, H. A. M., Axford, Y., Csatho, B., Rood, D. H., and Finkel, R. C.: Response of Jakobshavn Isbrae, Greenland, to Holocene climate change, Geology, 39, 131–134, https://doi.org/10.1130/G31399.1, 2011.
Young, N. E., Briner, J. P., Rood, D. H., Finkel, R. C., Corbett, L. B., and Bierman, P. R.: Age of the Fjord Stade moraines in the Disko Bugt region, western Greenland, and the 9.3 and 8.2 ka cooling events, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 60, 76–90, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2012.09.028, 2013a.
Young, N. E., Schaefer, J. M., Briner, J. P., and Goehring, B. M.: A 10Be production rate calibration for the Arctic, J. Quaternary Sci., 28, 515–526, https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.2642, 2013b.
Young, N. E., Briner, J. P., Maurer, J., and Schaefer, J. M.: 10Be measurements in bedrock constrain erosion beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet margin, Geophys. Res. Lett., 43, 11708–11719, https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL070258, 2016.
Zoet, L. K., Alley, R. B., Anandakrishnan, S., and Christianson, K.: Accelerated subglacial erosion in response to stick-slip motion, Geology, 41, 159–162, https://doi.org/10.1130/G33624.1, 2013.
Short summary
Glacial erosion is a fundamental process operating on Earth's surface. Two processes of glacial erosion, abrasion and plucking, are poorly understood. We reconstructed rates of abrasion and quarrying in Greenland. We derive a total glacial erosion rate of 0.26 ± 0.16 mm per year. We also learned that erosion via these two processes is about equal. Because the site is similar to many other areas covered by continental ice sheets, these results may be applied to many places on Earth.
Glacial erosion is a fundamental process operating on Earth's surface. Two processes of glacial...
