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Fracture propagation to the base of the Greenland ice sheet during supraglacial lake drainage
Citation
Das, SB and Joughin, I and Behn, MD and Howat, IM and King, MA and Lizarralde, D and Bhatia, MP, Fracture propagation to the base of the Greenland ice sheet during supraglacial lake drainage, Science, 320, (5877) pp. 778-781. ISSN 0036-8075 (2008) [Refereed Article]
DOI: doi:10.1126/science.1153360
Abstract
Surface meltwater that reaches the base of an ice sheet creates a mechanism for the rapid response of ice flow to climate change. The process whereby such a pathway is created through thick, cold ice has not, however, been previously observed. We describe the rapid (<2 hours) drainage of a large supraglacial lake down 980 meters through to the bed of the Greenland Ice Sheet initiated by water-driven fracture propagation evolving into moulin flow. Drainage coincided with increased seismicity, transient acceleration, ice-sheet uplift, and horizontal displacement. Subsidence and deceleration occurred over the subsequent 24 hours. The short-lived dynamic response suggests that an efficient drainage system dispersed the meltwater subglacially. The integrated effect of multiple lake drainages could explain the observed net regional summer ice speedup.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
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Keywords: | ice; surface water; climate change; drainage; fracture propagation; glacial lake; ice flow; ice sheet; lake; meltwater; seismicity; acceleration; article; climate change; deceleration; glacier; Greenland; ice sheet; lake; priority journal; Arctic |
Research Division: | Earth Sciences |
Research Group: | Physical geography and environmental geoscience |
Research Field: | Physical geography and environmental geoscience not elsewhere classified |
Objective Division: | Expanding Knowledge |
Objective Group: | Expanding knowledge |
Objective Field: | Expanding knowledge in the earth sciences |
UTAS Author: | King, MA (Professor Matt King) |
ID Code: | 81951 |
Year Published: | 2008 |
Web of Science® Times Cited: | 392 |
Deposited By: | Geography and Environmental Studies |
Deposited On: | 2013-01-11 |
Last Modified: | 2014-07-30 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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