Greenland freshwater production and the iceberg environment
Abstract
Greenland freshwater production is increasing via greater surface melt and melt of discharged solid ice. We tie together recent research looking at detailed spatiotemporal freshwater fluxes and separately at the potential use of freshwater-producing glacial environments by narwhal whales (Monodon monoceros). Focused research in the Sermilik Fjord - Helheim Glacier system demonstrates that iceberg melt can dominate the freshwater production budget annually, with spatial and temporal freshwater production that is also distinct from other sources. Furthermore, 40-100% (depending on season) of iceberg melt produced at depth is likely to remain at depth, an important difference from how freshwater fluxes are commonly treated in many ocean models and potentially a critical ecosystem characteristic. For example, freshwater produced from solid ice melt, both at the glacier terminus and from icebergs, may be a key environmental factor influencing narwhal whale glacial environment use. Data from 15 whales and 41 marine-terminating glaciers in Melville Bay, West Greenland, suggest that narwhals prefer glaciers with potential for higher ambient freshwater melt, such as that from the ice front and icebergs, over glaciers with silt-laden discharge. Ongoing improvements in understanding both the physical processes of freshwater production and biological freshwater dependence will help to constrain future effects of continued Greenland ice sheet evolution and ice loss on local to ice-sheet-wide scales.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018AGUFM.C13A..01M
- Keywords:
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- 0720 Glaciers;
- CRYOSPHEREDE: 0758 Remote sensing;
- CRYOSPHEREDE: 0774 Dynamics;
- CRYOSPHEREDE: 0794 Instruments and techniques;
- CRYOSPHERE