Cyclonic eddies in the West Greenland boundary current system (original) (raw)

Warm Atlantic water drives Greenland Ice Sheet discharge dynamics

2008

Greenland outlet glaciers terminating in fjords experience seasonal fluctuations as well as abrupt episodes of rapid retreat and speed-up. The cause of abrupt speed-up events is not firmly established, but synchronous occurrences suggest that it is related to Arctic warming. Here, we report major warming of water masses in Kangerdlugssuaq Fjord, East Greenland, immediately prior to the fast retreat and speed-up of Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier in 2004-05. Our hydrographic data show that this event occurred when Atlantic water entered the fjord and increased temperature of surface water by 4°C and deep water by 1°C. On the basis of meteorological records and satellite-derived sea surface temperatures, which fluctuate by up to 4°C in periods of 2-3 years, we infer that inflow of Atlantic water is controlled by the direction and intensity of prevailing winds that force coastal and offshore currents. Our results demonstrate that Greenland Ice Sheet discharge dynamics are modulated by North Atlantic climate variability, which is identified by shifts in the position of atmospheric low pressure over the Labrador and Irminger seas. A persisting westerly position of the Icelandic Low since 1999 may explain why winters in Greenland have been particularly mild during the last decade and it is feasible that widespread and synchronous discharge fluctuations from outlet glaciers, which resulted in high rates of ice loss in southeast Greenland, are a consequence of this synoptic condition.