Collaborative Research: Quantifying Glacier-Fjord-Ocean Interactions and their Impact on Changing Ice Discharge: Kangia Nunata Sermia and Other Outlets, West Greenland

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This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).This multidisciplinary proposal aims to improve understanding of ocean/glacier-ice interactions by linking oceanographic, glacier, and atmospheric measurements in a fjord/glacier system showing recent change to quantify processes occurring at this interface. The proposed work leverages and extends a substantive oceanographic investigation established as part of a Greenlandic-Danish IPY initiative, FRESHLINK, which attempts to assess the freshwater balance of the Godthåbsfjorden drainage in southwestern Greenland. This proposal adds tightly integrated glacier and inner-fjord components to this multidisciplinary effort. The specific goals are to 1) establish observations of glacier flow variability and patterns of change of the main glacier entering the fjord and quantify ice discharge on seasonal and annual time scales and relate these to fjord and off-shore oceanographic measurements; 2) quantify submarine melting at the calving terminus as a function of water temperature and glacial freshwater discharge; and 3) compare these results to other outlets and assess the implications for glacier-ice/ocean interaction on the scale of Greenland. The underlying assumption, that oceanographic forcing controls aspects of outlet glacier flow, is suggested in many areas of Greenland. Understanding recent outlet glacier retreat requires a study of the entire glacier-fjord-open ocean system. Such an integrated approach is the goal of this proposal. The combination of detailed seasonally-distributed oceanographic transects with measurements from moorings will allow quantification of marine melting of glacier ice as well as subglacial discharge. The suite of glaciological measurements will quantify the response of the glacier system as well as constrain surface melting. The satellite time series of the system, analyzed with the goal of finding remotely measurable characteristics that scale with the processes measured in situ, may allow extension to other fjords around Greenland.