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Csatho BM, Schenk AF, van der Veen CJ, et al. Laser altimetry reveals complex pattern of Greenland Ice Sheet dynamics. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014;111(52):18478-83doi: 10.1073/pnas.1411680112.
Csatho, B. M., Schenk, A. F., van der Veen, C. J., Babonis, G., Duncan, K., Rezvanbehbahani, S., van den Broeke, M. R., Simonsen, S. B., Nagarajan, S., & van Angelen, J. H. (2014). Laser altimetry reveals complex pattern of Greenland Ice Sheet dynamics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111(52), 18478-83. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1411680112
Csatho, Beata M, et al. "Laser altimetry reveals complex pattern of Greenland Ice Sheet dynamics." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America vol. 111,52 (2014): 18478-83. doi: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1411680112
Csatho BM, Schenk AF, van der Veen CJ, Babonis G, Duncan K, Rezvanbehbahani S, van den Broeke MR, Simonsen SB, Nagarajan S, van Angelen JH. Laser altimetry reveals complex pattern of Greenland Ice Sheet dynamics. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 Dec 30;111(52):18478-83. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1411680112. Epub 2014 Dec 15. PMID: 25512537; PMCID: PMC4284527.
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Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 Dec 30;111(52):18478-83. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1411680112. Epub 2014 Dec 15.

Laser altimetry reveals complex pattern of Greenland Ice Sheet dynamics.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Beata M Csatho, Anton F Schenk, Cornelis J van der Veen, Gregory Babonis, Kyle Duncan, Soroush Rezvanbehbahani, Michiel R van den Broeke, Sebastian B Simonsen, Sudhagar Nagarajan, Jan H van Angelen

Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14260; [email protected].
  2. Department of Geology, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14260;
  3. Departments of Geography and.
  4. Geology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045;
  5. Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, Utrecht University, 3584 CC Utrecht, The Netherlands;
  6. Division of Geodynamics, DTU Space, National Space institute, DK-2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark; and.
  7. Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatics Engineering, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431.

PMID: 25512537 PMCID: PMC4284527 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1411680112

Abstract

We present a new record of ice thickness change, reconstructed at nearly 100,000 sites on the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) from laser altimetry measurements spanning the period 1993-2012, partitioned into changes due to surface mass balance (SMB) and ice dynamics. We estimate a mean annual GrIS mass loss of 243 ± 18 Gt ⋅ y(-1), equivalent to 0.68 mm ⋅ y(-1) sea level rise (SLR) for 2003-2009. Dynamic thinning contributed 48%, with the largest rates occurring in 2004-2006, followed by a gradual decrease balanced by accelerating SMB loss. The spatial pattern of dynamic mass loss changed over this time as dynamic thinning rapidly decreased in southeast Greenland but slowly increased in the southwest, north, and northeast regions. Most outlet glaciers have been thinning during the last two decades, interrupted by episodes of decreasing thinning or even thickening. Dynamics of the major outlet glaciers dominated the mass loss from larger drainage basins, and simultaneous changes over distances up to 500 km are detected, indicating climate control. However, the intricate spatiotemporal pattern of dynamic thickness change suggests that, regardless of the forcing responsible for initial glacier acceleration and thinning, the response of individual glaciers is modulated by local conditions. Recent projections of dynamic contributions from the entire GrIS to SLR have been based on the extrapolation of four major outlet glaciers. Considering the observed complexity, we question how well these four glaciers represent all of Greenland's outlet glaciers.

Keywords: Greenland Ice Sheet; ice dynamics; laser altimetry; mass balance

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