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dc.contributor.authorStraneo, Fiammetta
dc.contributor.authorHamilton, Gordon S.
dc.contributor.authorStearns, Leigh A.
dc.contributor.authorSutherland, David A.
dc.date.accessioned2017-11-30T20:52:12Z
dc.date.available2017-11-30T20:52:12Z
dc.date.issued2016
dc.identifier.citationStraneo, F., G.S. Hamilton, L.A. Stearns, and D.A. Sutherland. 2016. Connecting the Greenland Ice Sheet and the ocean: A case study of Helheim Glacier and Sermilik Fjord. Oceanography 29(4):34–45, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2016.97.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1808/25528
dc.descriptionThis article has been published in Oceanography, Volume 29, Number 4, a quarterly journal of The Oceanography Society.en_US
dc.description.abstractThe rapid ice loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet that began in the late 1990s sparked an interest in glacier/ocean exchanges both because an increase in submarine melting of the glacier is a potential trigger of glacier retreat and because the increasing freshwater discharge can affect the regional ocean’s circulation and ecosystems. An interdisciplinary field project focused on the Helheim Glacier-Sermilik Fjord system began in 2008 and has continued to date. We found that warm, Atlantic Water flows into the fjord, drives melting of the glacier, and is regularly replenished through shelf-forced and glacier-driven circulations. In summer, the release of surface melt at the base of the glacier has a pronounced impact on local ocean circulation, the properties of the glacier, and its melt rate. Measurements taken in the fjord indicate that it is virtually impossible to derive submarine melt rates from hydrographic (including moored) data due to the fjord’s pronounced water mass variability and uncertain contribution from iceberg melt. Efforts to correlate glacier behavior with ocean forcing on seasonal and interannual time scales yield no straightforward connections, likely because of a dependence on a wider range of parameters, including subglacial discharge and bedrock geometry. This project emphasizes the need for sustained long-term measurements of multiple glacier/ocean/atmosphere systems to understand the different dynamics that control their evolution.en_US
dc.publisherOceanography Societyen_US
dc.rightsCopyright 2016 by The Oceanography Society. All rights reserved.en_US
dc.titleConnecting the Greenland Ice Sheet and the Ocean: A Case Study of Helheim Glacier and Sermilik Fjorden_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
kusw.kuauthorStearns, Leigh A.
kusw.kudepartmentGeologyen_US
dc.identifier.doi10.5670/oceanog.2016.97en_US
kusw.oaversionScholarly/refereed, publisher versionen_US
kusw.oapolicyThis item meets KU Open Access policy criteria.en_US
dc.rights.accessrightsopenAccessen_US


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