Accumulation by avalanches as a significant contributor to the mass balance of a peripheral glacier of Greenland

Hynek, Bernhard; Binder, Daniel; Citterio, Michele; Larsen, Signe Hillerup; Abermann, Jakob; Verhoeven, Geert; Ludewig, Elke; Schöner, Wolfgang

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-5481-2024

Articles | Volume 18, issue 11

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-5481-2024

© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-5481-2024

© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 18, issue 11

Research article

|

27 Nov 2024

Research article |

| 27 Nov 2024

Accumulation by avalanches as a significant contributor to the mass balance of a peripheral glacier of Greenland

Bernhard Hynek, Daniel Binder, Michele Citterio, Signe Hillerup Larsen, Jakob Abermann, Geert Verhoeven, Elke Ludewig, and Wolfgang Schöner

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-5481-2024-supplement

Data sets

Digital elevation model and orthofoto of Freya Glacier 2013 Bernhard Hynek et al. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.972889

Digital elevation model and orthophoto of Freya Glacier 2021 Bernhard Hynek et al. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.972888

Fluctuations of Glaciers Database World Glacier Monitoring Service https://doi.org/10.5904/WGMS-FOG-2023-09

Mass balance of Freya Glacier Bernhard Hynek et al. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.831035

Short summary

An avalanche event in February 2018 caused thick snow deposits on Freya Glacier, a peripheral mountain glacier in northeastern Greenland. The avalanche deposits contributed significantly to the mass balance, leaving a strong imprint in the elevation changes in 2013–2021. The 8-year geodetic mass balance (2013–2021) of the glacier is positive, whereas previous estimates by direct measurements were negative and now turned out to have a negative bias.