Timing and origin of recent regional ice-mass loss in Greenland
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Timing and origin of recent regional ice-mass loss in Greenland. / Sasgen, Ingo; van den Broeke, Michiel; Bamber, Jonathan L.; Rignot, Eric; Sørensen, Louise Sandberg; Wouters, Bert; Martinec, Zdenek; Velicogna, Isabella; Simonsen, Sebastian Bjerregaard.
In: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 333-334, 01.06.2012, p. 293-303.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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T1 - Timing and origin of recent regional ice-mass loss in Greenland
AU - Sasgen, Ingo
AU - van den Broeke, Michiel
AU - Bamber, Jonathan L.
AU - Rignot, Eric
AU - Sørensen, Louise Sandberg
AU - Wouters, Bert
AU - Martinec, Zdenek
AU - Velicogna, Isabella
AU - Simonsen, Sebastian Bjerregaard
PY - 2012/6/1
Y1 - 2012/6/1
N2 - Within the last decade, the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) and its surroundings have experienced record high surface temperatures (Mote, 2007; Box et al., 2010), ice sheet melt extent (Fettweis et al., 2011) and record-low summer sea-ice extent (Nghiem et al., 2007). Using three independent data sets, we derive, for the first time, consistent ice-mass trends and temporal variations within seven major drainage basins from gravity fields from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE; Tapley et al., 2004), surface-ice velocities from Inteferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR; Rignot and Kanagaratnam, 2006) together with output of the regional atmospheric climate modelling (RACMO2/GR; Ettema et al., 2009), and surface-elevation changes from the Ice, cloud and land elevation satellite (ICESat; Sørensen et al., 2011). We show that changing ice discharge (D), surface melting and subsequent run-off (M/R) and precipitation (P) all contribute, in a complex and regionally variable interplay, to the increasingly negative mass balance of the GrIS observed within the last decade. Interannual variability in P along the northwest and west coasts of the GrIS largely explains the apparent regional mass loss increase during 2002-2010, and obscures increasing M/R and D since the 1990s. In winter 2002/2003 and 2008/2009, accumulation anomalies in the east and southeast temporarily outweighed the losses by M/R and D that prevailed during 2003-2008, and after summer 2010. Overall, for all basins of the GrIS, the decadal variability of anomalies in P, M/R and D between 1958 and 2010 (w.r.t. 1961-1990) was significantly exceeded by the regional trends observed during the GRACE period (2002-2011).
AB - Within the last decade, the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) and its surroundings have experienced record high surface temperatures (Mote, 2007; Box et al., 2010), ice sheet melt extent (Fettweis et al., 2011) and record-low summer sea-ice extent (Nghiem et al., 2007). Using three independent data sets, we derive, for the first time, consistent ice-mass trends and temporal variations within seven major drainage basins from gravity fields from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE; Tapley et al., 2004), surface-ice velocities from Inteferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR; Rignot and Kanagaratnam, 2006) together with output of the regional atmospheric climate modelling (RACMO2/GR; Ettema et al., 2009), and surface-elevation changes from the Ice, cloud and land elevation satellite (ICESat; Sørensen et al., 2011). We show that changing ice discharge (D), surface melting and subsequent run-off (M/R) and precipitation (P) all contribute, in a complex and regionally variable interplay, to the increasingly negative mass balance of the GrIS observed within the last decade. Interannual variability in P along the northwest and west coasts of the GrIS largely explains the apparent regional mass loss increase during 2002-2010, and obscures increasing M/R and D since the 1990s. In winter 2002/2003 and 2008/2009, accumulation anomalies in the east and southeast temporarily outweighed the losses by M/R and D that prevailed during 2003-2008, and after summer 2010. Overall, for all basins of the GrIS, the decadal variability of anomalies in P, M/R and D between 1958 and 2010 (w.r.t. 1961-1990) was significantly exceeded by the regional trends observed during the GRACE period (2002-2011).
U2 - 10.1016/j.epsl.2012.03.033
DO - 10.1016/j.epsl.2012.03.033
M3 - Journal article
VL - 333-334
SP - 293
EP - 303
JO - Earth and Planetary Science Letters
JF - Earth and Planetary Science Letters
SN - 0012-821X
ER -
ID: 40332599