Large fluctuations in speed on Greenland's Jakobshavn Isbræ glacier

Ian Joughin (), Waleed Abdalati and Mark Fahnestock
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Ian Joughin: Jet Propulsion Lab, California Institute of Technology
Waleed Abdalati: Oceans and Ice Branch, Code 971
Mark Fahnestock: University of New Hampshire

Nature, 2004, vol. 432, issue 7017, 608-610

Abstract: Abstract It is important to understand recent changes in the velocity of Greenland glaciers because the mass balance of the Greenland Ice Sheet is partly determined by the flow rates of these outlets. Jakobshavn Isbræ is Greenland's largest outlet glacier1, draining about 6.5 per cent of the ice-sheet area, and it has been surveyed repeatedly since 1991 (ref. 2). Here we use remote sensing data to measure the velocity of Jakobshavn Isbræ between 1992 and 2003. We detect large variability of the velocity over time, including a slowing down from 6,700 m yr-1 in 1985 to 5,700 m yr-1 in 1992, and a subsequent speeding up to 9,400 m yr-1 by 2000 and 12,600 m yr-1 in 2003. These changes are consistent with earlier evidence for thickening of the glacier in the early 1990s and rapid thinning thereafter3. Our observations indicate that fast-flowing glaciers can significantly alter ice discharge at sub-decadal timescales, with at least a potential to respond rapidly to a changing climate.

Date: 2004
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DOI: 10.1038/nature03130

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