Sudden increase in tidal response linked to calving and acceleration at a large Greenland outlet glacier

View/ Open
Issue Date
2010-06-23Author
de Juan, Julia
Elosegui, Pedro
Nettles, Meredith
Larsen, Tine B.
Davis, James L.
Hamilton, Gordon S.
Stearns, Leigh A.
Andersen, Morten L.
Ekstrom, Göran
Ahlstrøm, Andreas P.
Stenseng, Lars
Khan, S. Aabbas
Forsberg, René
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
Type
Article
Article Version
Scholarly/refereed, publisher version
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
[1] Large calving events at Greenland's largest outlet glaciers are associated with glacial earthquakes and near-instantaneous increases in glacier flow speed. At some glaciers and ice streams, flow is also modulated in a regular way by ocean tidal forcing at the terminus. At Helheim Glacier, analysis of geodetic data shows decimeter-level periodic position variations in response to tidal forcing. However, we also observe transient increases of more than 100% in the glacier's responsiveness to such tidal forcing following glacial-earthquake calving events. The timing and amplitude of the changes correlate strongly with the step-like increases in glacier speed and longitudinal strain rate associated with glacial earthquakes. The enhanced response to the ocean tides may be explained by a temporary disruption of the subglacial drainage system and a concomitant reduction of the friction at the ice-bedrock interface, and suggests a new means by which geodetic data may be used to infer glacier properties.
Description
This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from "http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/".
ISSN
0094-8276Collections
- Geology Scholarly Works [247]
Citation
de Juan, J., et al. (2010), Sudden increase in tidal response linked to calving and acceleration at a large Greenland outlet glacier, Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L12501, http://www.dx.doi.org/10.1029/2010GL043289
Items in KU ScholarWorks are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.
We want to hear from you! Please share your stories about how Open Access to this item benefits YOU.