The Cryosphere
The Cryosphere
TC
Articles | Volume 18, issue 3
Articles | Volume 18, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1333-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1333-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 18, issue 3
Research article
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22 Mar 2024
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 22 Mar 2024

Extreme melting at Greenland's largest floating ice tongue

Ole Zeising, Niklas Neckel, Nils Dörr, Veit Helm, Daniel Steinhage, Ralph Timmermann, and Angelika Humbert

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Latest update: 29 Oct 2025
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This study addresses an important question regarding the stability of ice shelves, a question that is highly relevant for Greenland and Antarctica. Using a unique combination of observations, the authors document extensive thinning and extremely high basal melt rates at the floating tongue Nioghalvfjerdsbræ, North Greenland, an important and fast-changing part of the Greenland Ice Sheet. The increase in melt rates are suggested to be caused by an increase in surface melt that is funneling surface water under the ice shelf.
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Short summary
The 79° North Glacier in Greenland has experienced significant changes over the last decades. Due to extreme melt rates, the ice has thinned significantly in the vicinity of the grounding line, where a large subglacial channel has formed since 2010. We attribute these changes to warm ocean currents and increased subglacial discharge from surface melt. However, basal melting has decreased since 2018, indicating colder water inflow into the cavity below the glacier.
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