Ocean impacts on tidewater glaciers in the Canadian Arctic

我们正在申请资金，用于购置海洋学实地设备，以调查海水在控制加拿大北极群岛（CAA）冰川底部融化速度和稳定性方面的作用。在过去的10-15年里，该地区的冰川质量损失一直是格陵兰岛和南极洲以外全球海平面上升的最大贡献者，但我们目前对控制这些质量损失的大气与冰川学与海洋学因素的重要性了解甚少。值得注意的是，在CAA的数百个海洋终止冰川中，只有两个，Trinity和Wykeham，目前占冰山排放到海洋的总量的62%。自2000年以来，这些冰川的速度增加了一倍多，其终点后退了5公里，这意味着一个重大的关切是，这些冰块是否已经开始不可逆转的崩溃。这种异常退缩的原因尚不清楚，但初步证据表明，温暖的地下大西洋水可能已经传播到塔尔博特湾，即冰川前面的峡湾，这与格陵兰岛广泛的冰川退缩有关。大西洋水进一步传播到CAA可能会导致整个地区更广泛的冰川加速和退缩，对海平面上升和淡水（液体和固体）出口到巴芬湾产生广泛影响。

We are requesting funds for oceanographic field equipment to investigate the role of ocean water in controlling the basal melt rates and stability of glaciers in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA). Glacier mass loss from this region has been the largest contributor to global eustatic sea level rise outside of Greenland and Antarctica over the past 10-15 years, but we currently have a poor understanding of the importance of atmospheric vs. glaciological vs. oceanographic factors in controlling these mass losses. Notably, of the several hundred marine-terminating glaciers in the CAA, just two, Trinity and Wykeham, currently account for ~62% of total iceberg discharge to the ocean. Since the year 2000 these glaciers have more than doubled in speed and their termini have retreated by up to 5 km, meaning that a significant concern is whether irreversible collapse of these ice masses has already begun. The cause of this anomalous retreat is unknown, but preliminary evidence suggests that warm subsurface Atlantic Water, which has been linked to widespread glacier retreat in Greenland, may have propagated into Talbot Inlet, the fjord in front of the glaciers. Further propagation of Atlantic Water into the CAA could cause more widespread glacier acceleration and retreat throughout this region, with broad implications for sea level rise and the export of freshwater (both liquid and solid) into Baffin Bay.