Area, volume and ELA changes of West Greenland local glaciers and ice caps from 1985–2020
The behaviour of mountain glaciers on decadal time scales is a useful indicator for assessing climate change. Although less monitored and studied than the ice sheet, local glaciers and ice caps along the coast of Greenland are substantial contributors to meltwater runoff and sea level rise. This stu...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Journal of Glaciology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143024000765/type/journal_article |
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| author | Andrea Securo Costanza Del Gobbo Michele Citterio Horst Machguth Marco Marcer Niels J. Korsgaard Renato R. Colucci |
| author_facet | Andrea Securo Costanza Del Gobbo Michele Citterio Horst Machguth Marco Marcer Niels J. Korsgaard Renato R. Colucci |
| author_sort | Andrea Securo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The behaviour of mountain glaciers on decadal time scales is a useful indicator for assessing climate change. Although less monitored and studied than the ice sheet, local glaciers and ice caps along the coast of Greenland are substantial contributors to meltwater runoff and sea level rise. This study analyses the cumulative area, ice mass and Equilibrium Line Altitude (ELA) change that occurred on 4100 glaciers and ice caps in West Greenland from 1985 to approximately 2020, using remotely sensed data and including glaciers smaller than 1 km2 in the calculations. The glaciers involved in the study decreased in area by 1774 ± 229 km2 which corresponds to almost −15%. Their surface elevation decreased on average by 20.6 ± 3.9 m, corresponding to a rate of −0.5 ± 0.1 m w.e. a−1. The ELA shows a median regional rise of 150 m with marked local variability and higher median rise in the northern part of the study area. Strong regional gradients in ELA of individual glaciers are found, both towards the ice sheet and in areas where local orography affects precipitation. The observed high spatial variability of changes suggests that more monitoring on sub-regional level is needed. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-f6cc5b920d194b279e179e2974eda46b |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0022-1430 1727-5652 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Glaciology |
| spelling | doaj-art-f6cc5b920d194b279e179e2974eda46b2025-01-16T21:52:57ZengCambridge University PressJournal of Glaciology0022-14301727-56522024-01-017010.1017/jog.2024.76Area, volume and ELA changes of West Greenland local glaciers and ice caps from 1985–2020Andrea Securo0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6297-2233Costanza Del Gobbo1Michele Citterio2Horst Machguth3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5924-0998Marco Marcer4Niels J. Korsgaard5Renato R. Colucci6Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, University Ca’ Foscari of Venice, Venice, Italy Institute of Polar Sciences, National Research Council of Italy, Rome, ItalyInstitute of Polar Sciences, National Research Council of Italy, Rome, Italy Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Quebec in Montreal, Montreal, CanadaDepartment of Glaciology and Climate, Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, Copenhagen, DenmarkDepartment of Geoscience, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, SwitzerlandDepartment of Environmental and Resource Engineering Geotechnics & Geology, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, DenmarkDepartment of Glaciology and Climate, Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, Copenhagen, DenmarkInstitute of Polar Sciences, National Research Council of Italy, Rome, ItalyThe behaviour of mountain glaciers on decadal time scales is a useful indicator for assessing climate change. Although less monitored and studied than the ice sheet, local glaciers and ice caps along the coast of Greenland are substantial contributors to meltwater runoff and sea level rise. This study analyses the cumulative area, ice mass and Equilibrium Line Altitude (ELA) change that occurred on 4100 glaciers and ice caps in West Greenland from 1985 to approximately 2020, using remotely sensed data and including glaciers smaller than 1 km2 in the calculations. The glaciers involved in the study decreased in area by 1774 ± 229 km2 which corresponds to almost −15%. Their surface elevation decreased on average by 20.6 ± 3.9 m, corresponding to a rate of −0.5 ± 0.1 m w.e. a−1. The ELA shows a median regional rise of 150 m with marked local variability and higher median rise in the northern part of the study area. Strong regional gradients in ELA of individual glaciers are found, both towards the ice sheet and in areas where local orography affects precipitation. The observed high spatial variability of changes suggests that more monitoring on sub-regional level is needed.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143024000765/type/journal_articleArctic glaciologyequilibrium line altitudeglacier mass balancemountain glaciersremote sensing |
| spellingShingle | Andrea Securo Costanza Del Gobbo Michele Citterio Horst Machguth Marco Marcer Niels J. Korsgaard Renato R. Colucci Area, volume and ELA changes of West Greenland local glaciers and ice caps from 1985–2020 Journal of Glaciology Arctic glaciology equilibrium line altitude glacier mass balance mountain glaciers remote sensing |
| title | Area, volume and ELA changes of West Greenland local glaciers and ice caps from 1985–2020 |
| title_full | Area, volume and ELA changes of West Greenland local glaciers and ice caps from 1985–2020 |
| title_fullStr | Area, volume and ELA changes of West Greenland local glaciers and ice caps from 1985–2020 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Area, volume and ELA changes of West Greenland local glaciers and ice caps from 1985–2020 |
| title_short | Area, volume and ELA changes of West Greenland local glaciers and ice caps from 1985–2020 |
| title_sort | area volume and ela changes of west greenland local glaciers and ice caps from 1985 2020 |
| topic | Arctic glaciology equilibrium line altitude glacier mass balance mountain glaciers remote sensing |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143024000765/type/journal_article |
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