NASA Continues to Research Greenland Ice Sheet Melt and Sea Level Rise http://scitechdaily.com/nasa-continues-to-research-greenland-ice-sheet-melt-and-sea-level-rise/
[quote]
“Solid ice losses have been studied in great detail by scientists for years, but the melt water component, despite being the dominant agent in the ice sheet’s mass balance, has received comparatively less study,” Smith said. “This is particularly true for the surface water hydrology on top of the ice sheet, which has received very little study.”
The handful of ice sheet surface hydrology studies have mostly focused on Greenland’s massive melt water lakes, which can disappear in a matter of hours, engulfed by the ice. But Smith and his team believe that rivers sinking into holes in the ice are the main agent transporting water from the top to the bottom of the ice sheet.
“While lake drainages do suddenly pump a large volume of water all at once to the ice sheet, in fact the amount of water they put into the ice sheet is almost trivial compared to the flux of water moving through these intricate, very efficient drainage networks [of rivers] that spread across the surface of the ablation [or melt] zone each summer,” Smith said.
Besides contributing to sea level rise, melt water runoff also accelerates ice loss: when the water percolates through the ice sheet and reaches the rock below, it slightly lifts the ice, helping it flow faster toward the ocean. Also, the intensity and area of surface melt are projected to increase with climate change.
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ReplyDeleteNASA Continues to Research Greenland Ice Sheet Melt and Sea Level Rise
http://scitechdaily.com/nasa-continues-to-research-greenland-ice-sheet-melt-and-sea-level-rise/
[quote]
“Solid ice losses have been studied in great detail by scientists for years, but the melt water component, despite being the dominant agent in the ice sheet’s mass balance, has received comparatively less study,” Smith said. “This is particularly true for the surface water hydrology on top of the ice sheet, which has received very little study.”
The handful of ice sheet surface hydrology studies have mostly focused on Greenland’s massive melt water lakes, which can disappear in a matter of hours, engulfed by the ice. But Smith and his team believe that rivers sinking into holes in the ice are the main agent transporting water from the top to the bottom of the ice sheet.
“While lake drainages do suddenly pump a large volume of water all at once to the ice sheet, in fact the amount of water they put into the ice sheet is almost trivial compared to the flux of water moving through these intricate, very efficient drainage networks [of rivers] that spread across the surface of the ablation [or melt] zone each summer,” Smith said.
Besides contributing to sea level rise, melt water runoff also accelerates ice loss: when the water percolates through the ice sheet and reaches the rock below, it slightly lifts the ice, helping it flow faster toward the ocean. Also, the intensity and area of surface melt are projected to increase with climate change.
Tom