Dark zone of the Greenland Ice Sheet controlled by distributed biologically-active impurities

Jonathan C. Ryan, Alun Hubbard (), Marek Stibal, Tristram D. Irvine-Fynn, Joseph Cook, Laurence C. Smith, Karen Cameron and Jason Box
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Jonathan C. Ryan: Aberystwyth University
Alun Hubbard: Aberystwyth University
Marek Stibal: Charles University
Tristram D. Irvine-Fynn: Aberystwyth University
Joseph Cook: University of Sheffield
Laurence C. Smith: University of California, Los Angeles
Karen Cameron: Aberystwyth University
Jason Box: Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland

Nature Communications, 2018, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Albedo—a primary control on surface melt—varies considerably across the Greenland Ice Sheet yet the specific surface types that comprise its dark zone remain unquantified. Here we use UAV imagery to attribute seven distinct surface types to observed albedo along a 25 km transect dissecting the western, ablating sector of the ice sheet. Our results demonstrate that distributed surface impurities—an admixture of dust, black carbon and pigmented algae—explain 73% of the observed spatial variability in albedo and are responsible for the dark zone itself. Crevassing and supraglacial water also drive albedo reduction but due to their limited extent, explain just 12 and 15% of the observed variability respectively. Cryoconite, concentrated in large holes or fluvial deposits, is the darkest surface type but accounts for

Date: 2018
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:9:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-018-03353-2

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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-03353-2

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