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Greenland Subglacial Drainage Evolution Regulated by Weakly Connected Regions of the BedPenetration of surface meltwater to the bed of the Greenland Ice Sheet each summer causes an initial increase in ice speed due to elevated basal water pressure, followed by slowdown in late summer that continues into fall and winter. While this seasonal pattern is commonly explained by an evolution of the subglacial drainage system from an inefficient distributed to efficient channelized configuration, mounting evidence indicates that subglacial channels are unable to explain important aspects of hydrodynamic coupling in late summer and fall. Here we use numerical models of subglacial drainage and ice flow to show that limited, gradual leakage of water and lowering of water pressure in weakly connected regions of the bed can explain the dominant features in late and post melt season ice dynamics. These results suggest that a third weakly connected drainage component should be included in the conceptual model of subglacial hydrology.
Document ID
20170008133
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Hoffman, Matthew J.
(Los Alamos National Lab. NM, United States)
Andrews, Lauren C.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Price, Stephen F.
(Los Alamos National Lab. NM, United States)
Catania, Ginny A.
(Texas Univ. Austin, TX, United States)
Neumann, Thomas A.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Luthi, Martin P.
(Zurich Univ. Switzerland)
Gulley, Jason
(University of South Florida Tampa, FL, United States)
Ryser, Claudia
(Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, Switzerland)
Hawley, Robert L.
(Dartmouth Coll. Hanover, NH, United States)
Morriss, Blaine
(Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Lab. Hanover, NH, United States)
Date Acquired
August 31, 2017
Publication Date
December 19, 2016
Publication Information
Publication: Nature Communications
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
Volume: 7
e-ISSN: 2041-1723
Subject Category
Numerical Analysis
Earth Resources And Remote Sensing
Report/Patent Number
GSFC-E-DAA-TN43276
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF OPP-0908156
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF OPP-0909454
CONTRACT_GRANT: Nat Geo 9067-12
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF ANT-0424589
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
Greenland Ice Sheet
GrIS
Greenland

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