Meltwater pathways from marine terminating glaciers of the Greenland ice sheet

The Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) stores the largest amount of freshwater in the Northern Hemisphere and has been recently losing mass at an increasing rate. An eddy‐permitting ocean general circulation model is forced with realistic estimates of freshwater flux from the GrIS. Two approaches are used t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geophysical research letters 2016-10, Vol.43 (20), p.10,873-10,882
Main Authors: Gillard, Laura C., Hu, Xianmin, Myers, Paul G., Bamber, Jonathan L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Boundaries
Boundary currents
Brackish
Circulation
Computer simulation
Convection
Estimates
Flux
Fresh water
Freshwater
Freshwaters
General circulation
General circulation models
Glaciation
Glaciers
Greenland ice sheet
Ice
Ice ages
Ice sheets
Inland water environment
Labrador
Labrador Sea
marine terminating glaciers
Mass
Meltwater
Northern Hemisphere
oceanography
Oceans
Sea currents
Sea level
Simulation
Stores
Time
Trajectories
Transport
Vortices
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Summary:The Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) stores the largest amount of freshwater in the Northern Hemisphere and has been recently losing mass at an increasing rate. An eddy‐permitting ocean general circulation model is forced with realistic estimates of freshwater flux from the GrIS. Two approaches are used to track the meltwater and its trajectory in the ocean. We show that freshwater from western and eastern GrIS have markedly different fates, on a decadal time scale. Freshwater from west Greenland predominantly accumulates in Baffin Bay before being exported south down the Labrador shelf. Meanwhile, GrIS freshwater entering the interior of the Labrador Sea, where deep convection occurs, comes predominantly (∼80%) from east Greenland. Therefore, hosing experiments, which generally assume a uniform freshwater flux spatially, will not capture the true hydrographic response and regional impacts. In addition, narrow boundary currents are important for freshwater transport and distribution, requiring simulations with eddy‐resolving resolution. Key Points Rapid offshore exchange of freshwater from the West Greenland Current accumulates in the interior convective part of the Labrador Sea A lagged freshwater signal from the Greenland ice sheet enters the Labrador Sea from the south Narrow boundary currents are important for freshwater transport and distribution, requiring simulations with eddy‐resolving resolution
ISSN:0094-8276
1944-8007
DOI:10.1002/2016GL070969