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dc.contributor.authorLuckman, A.
dc.contributor.authorBenn, Doug I
dc.contributor.authorCottier, F.
dc.contributor.authorBevan, S.
dc.contributor.authorNilsen, F.
dc.contributor.authorInall, M.
dc.date.accessioned2015-11-05T15:10:04Z
dc.date.available2015-11-05T15:10:04Z
dc.date.issued2015-10-09
dc.identifier228702228
dc.identifierbd8cf7f6-0466-46b1-b141-cbd989ec1098
dc.identifier84944112102
dc.identifier000364932600013
dc.identifier.citationLuckman , A , Benn , D I , Cottier , F , Bevan , S , Nilsen , F & Inall , M 2015 , ' Calving rates at tidewater glaciers vary strongly with ocean temperature ' , Nature Communications , vol. 6 , 8566 . https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms9566en
dc.identifier.issn2041-1723
dc.identifier.otherORCID: /0000-0002-3604-0886/work/64697366
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10023/7747
dc.descriptionTerraSAR-X data were provided by DLR (project OCE1503), and funded by the Conoco Phillips-Lundin Northern Area Program through the CRIOS project (Calving Rates and Impact on Sea level). A.L. and S.B. are affiliated to the Climate Change Consortium of Wales (C3W). Mooring work is supported by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (Oceans 2025 and Northern Sea Program) and the Research Council of Norway (projects Cleopatra: 178766, Cleopatra II: 216537, and Circa: 214271/F20). Contribution by F.C. was undertaken through the Scottish Alliance for Geoscience Environment and Society (SAGES).en
dc.description.abstractRates of ice mass loss at the calving margins of tidewater glaciers (frontal ablation rates) are a key uncertainty in sea level rise projections. Measurements are difficult because mass lost is replaced by ice flow at variable rates, and frontal ablation incorporates sub-aerial calving, and submarine melt and calving. Here we derive frontal ablation rates for three dynamically contrasting glaciers in Svalbard from an unusually dense series of satellite images. We combine ocean data, ice-front position and terminus velocity to investigate controls on frontal ablation. We find that frontal ablation is not dependent on ice dynamics, nor reduced by glacier surface freeze-up, but varies strongly with sub-surface water temperature. We conclude that calving proceeds by melt undercutting and ice-front collapse, a process that may dominate frontal ablation where submarine melt can outpace ice flow. Our findings illustrate the potential for deriving simple models of tidewater glacier response to oceanographic forcing.
dc.format.extent7
dc.format.extent4411862
dc.language.isoeng
dc.relation.ispartofNature Communicationsen
dc.subjectGC Oceanographyen
dc.subjectGE Environmental Sciencesen
dc.subject3rd-NDASen
dc.subjectBDCen
dc.subjectR2Cen
dc.subject.lccGCen
dc.subject.lccGEen
dc.titleCalving rates at tidewater glaciers vary strongly with ocean temperatureen
dc.typeJournal articleen
dc.contributor.institutionUniversity of St Andrews. Bell-Edwards Geographic Data Instituteen
dc.contributor.institutionUniversity of St Andrews. School of Geography & Sustainable Developmenten
dc.contributor.institutionUniversity of St Andrews. Geography & Sustainable Developmenten
dc.identifier.doi10.1038/ncomms9566
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden


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