Articles | Volume 9, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1203-2015
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1203-2015
Research article
 | 
11 Jun 2015
Research article |  | 11 Jun 2015

Changes in the firn structure of the western Greenland Ice Sheet caused by recent warming

S. de la Peña, I. M. Howat, P. W. Nienow, M. R. van den Broeke, E. Mosley-Thompson, S. F. Price, D. Mair, B. Noël, and A. J. Sole

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Cited articles

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Bales, R. C., McConnell, J. R., Mosley-Thompson, E., and Csatho, B.: Accumulation over the Greenland Ice Sheet from historical and recent records, J. Geophys. Res., 106, 33813–33825, https://doi.org/10.1029/2001JD900153, 2001.
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Short summary
This paper presents an assessment of changes in the near-surface structure of the accumulation zone of the Greenland Ice Sheet caused by an increase of melt at higher elevations in the last decade, especially during the unusually warm years of 2010 and 2012. The increase in melt and firn densification complicate the interpretation of changes in the ice volume, and the observed increase in firn ice content may reduce the important meltwater buffering capacity of the Greenland Ice Sheet.