Precursor motion to iceberg calving at Jakobshavn Isbræ, Greenland, observed with terrestrial radar interferometry

Surui Xie; Timothy H. Dixon; Denis Voytenko; David M. Holland; Denise Holland; Tiantian Zheng

doi:10.1017/jog.2016.104

Precursor motion to iceberg calving at Jakobshavn Isbræ, Greenland, observed with terrestrial radar interferometry

Surui Xie, Timothy H. Dixon, Denis Voytenko, David M. Holland, Denise Holland, Tiantian Zheng

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Time-varying elevations near the calving front of Jakobshavn Isbræ, Greenland were observed with a terrestrial radar interferometer (TRI) in June 2015. An ice block with surface dimensions of 1370 m × 290 m calved on 10 June. TRI-generated time series show that ice elevation near the calving front began to increase 65 h prior to the event, and can be fit with a simple block rotation model. We hypothesize that subsurface melting at the base of the floating terminus breaks the gravity-buoyancy equilibrium, leading to slow subsidence and rotation of the block, and its eventual failure.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1134-1142
Number of pages	9
Journal	Journal of Glaciology
Volume	62
Issue number	236
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2016.104
State	Published - Dec 1 2016

Keywords

Lagrangian coordinates
glacier calving
ice block rotation
subsurface melting
terrestrial radar interferometry

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Earth-Surface Processes

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10.1017/jog.2016.104

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title = "Precursor motion to iceberg calving at Jakobshavn Isbr{\ae}, Greenland, observed with terrestrial radar interferometry",

abstract = "Time-varying elevations near the calving front of Jakobshavn Isbr{\ae}, Greenland were observed with a terrestrial radar interferometer (TRI) in June 2015. An ice block with surface dimensions of 1370 m × 290 m calved on 10 June. TRI-generated time series show that ice elevation near the calving front began to increase 65 h prior to the event, and can be fit with a simple block rotation model. We hypothesize that subsurface melting at the base of the floating terminus breaks the gravity-buoyancy equilibrium, leading to slow subsidence and rotation of the block, and its eventual failure.",

keywords = "Lagrangian coordinates, glacier calving, ice block rotation, subsurface melting, terrestrial radar interferometry",

author = "Surui Xie and Dixon, {Timothy H.} and Denis Voytenko and Holland, {David M.} and Denise Holland and Tiantian Zheng",

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doi = "10.1017/jog.2016.104",

language = "English (US)",

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T1 - Precursor motion to iceberg calving at Jakobshavn Isbræ, Greenland, observed with terrestrial radar interferometry

AU - Xie, Surui

AU - Dixon, Timothy H.

AU - Voytenko, Denis

AU - Holland, David M.

AU - Holland, Denise

AU - Zheng, Tiantian

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2016.

PY - 2016/12/1

Y1 - 2016/12/1

N2 - Time-varying elevations near the calving front of Jakobshavn Isbræ, Greenland were observed with a terrestrial radar interferometer (TRI) in June 2015. An ice block with surface dimensions of 1370 m × 290 m calved on 10 June. TRI-generated time series show that ice elevation near the calving front began to increase 65 h prior to the event, and can be fit with a simple block rotation model. We hypothesize that subsurface melting at the base of the floating terminus breaks the gravity-buoyancy equilibrium, leading to slow subsidence and rotation of the block, and its eventual failure.

AB - Time-varying elevations near the calving front of Jakobshavn Isbræ, Greenland were observed with a terrestrial radar interferometer (TRI) in June 2015. An ice block with surface dimensions of 1370 m × 290 m calved on 10 June. TRI-generated time series show that ice elevation near the calving front began to increase 65 h prior to the event, and can be fit with a simple block rotation model. We hypothesize that subsurface melting at the base of the floating terminus breaks the gravity-buoyancy equilibrium, leading to slow subsidence and rotation of the block, and its eventual failure.

KW - Lagrangian coordinates

KW - glacier calving

KW - ice block rotation

KW - subsurface melting

KW - terrestrial radar interferometry

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Precursor motion to iceberg calving at Jakobshavn Isbræ, Greenland, observed with terrestrial radar interferometry

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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