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

Related authors

Autonomous ice sheet surface mass balance measurements from cosmic rays
Ian M. Howat, Santiago de la Peña, Darin Desilets, and Gary Womack
The Cryosphere, 12, 2099–2108, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2099-2018,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2099-2018, 2018
Short summary
Brief Communication "Expansion of meltwater lakes on the Greenland Ice Sheet"
I. M. Howat, S. de la Peña, J. H. van Angelen, J. T. M. Lenaerts, and M. R. van den Broeke
The Cryosphere, 7, 201–204, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-201-2013,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-201-2013, 2013

Related subject area

Greenland
The system of atmosphere, land, ice and ocean in the region near the 79N Glacier in northeast Greenland: synthesis and key findings from the Greenland Ice Sheet–Ocean Interaction (GROCE) experiment
Torsten Kanzow, Angelika Humbert, Thomas Mölg, Mirko Scheinert, Matthias Braun, Hans Burchard, Francesca Doglioni, Philipp Hochreuther, Martin Horwath, Oliver Huhn, Maria Kappelsberger, Jürgen Kusche, Erik Loebel, Katrina Lutz, Ben Marzeion, Rebecca McPherson, Mahdi Mohammadi-Aragh, Marco Möller, Carolyne Pickler, Markus Reinert, Monika Rhein, Martin Rückamp, Janin Schaffer, Muhammad Shafeeque, Sophie Stolzenberger, Ralph Timmermann, Jenny Turton, Claudia Wekerle, and Ole Zeising
The Cryosphere, 19, 1789–1824, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1789-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1789-2025, 2025
Short summary
Brief communication: Storstrømmen Glacier, northeastern Greenland, primed for end-of-decade surge
Jonas K. Andersen, Rasmus P. Meyer, Flora S. Huiban, Mads L. Dømgaard, Romain Millan, and Anders A. Bjørk
The Cryosphere, 19, 1717–1724, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1717-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1717-2025, 2025
Short summary
Historically consistent mass loss projections of the Greenland ice sheet
Charlotte Rahlves, Heiko Goelzer, Andreas Born, and Petra M. Langebroek
The Cryosphere, 19, 1205–1220, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1205-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1205-2025, 2025
Short summary
A comparison of supraglacial meltwater features throughout contrasting melt seasons: southwest Greenland
Emily Glen, Amber Leeson, Alison F. Banwell, Jennifer Maddalena, Diarmuid Corr, Olivia Atkins, Brice Noël, and Malcolm McMillan
The Cryosphere, 19, 1047–1066, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1047-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1047-2025, 2025
Short summary
Ice speed of a Greenlandic tidewater glacier modulated by tide, melt, and rain
Shin Sugiyama, Shun Tsutaki, Daiki Sakakibara, Izumi Asaji, Ken Kondo, Yefan Wang, Evgeny Podolskiy, Guillaume Jouvet, and Martin Funk
The Cryosphere, 19, 525–540, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-525-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-525-2025, 2025
Short summary

Cited articles

Abdalati, W., Bales, R., and Thomas, R.: Program for Arctic Regional Climate Assessment. An improved understanding of the Greenland ice sheet, Arct. Res., 12, 38–54, 1988.
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.
Banwell, A. F., Arnold, N. S., Willis, I. C., Tedesco, M., and Ahlstrøm, A. P.: Modeling supraglacial water routing and lake filling on the Greenland Ice Sheet, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth Surf., 117, F04012, https://doi.org/10.1029/2012JF002393, 2012.
Bennartz, R., Shupe, M. D., Turner, D. D., Walden, V. P., Steffen, K., Cox, C. J., Kulie, M. S., Miller, N. B., and Pettersen, C.: July 2012 Greenland melt extent enhanced by low-level liquid clouds, Nature, 496, 83–86, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12002, 2013.
Benson, C.: Stratigraphic studies of the snow and firn of the Greenland ice sheet, Res. Rep., 70, U.S. Army Snow Ice and Permafrost Res. Estab, 1962.
Download
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.
Share