The Ice Shelf of Petermann Gletscher, North Greenland, and Its Connection to the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans

The Ice Shelf of Petermann Gletscher, North Greenland, and Its Connection to the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans

Petermann Gletscher in North Greenland features the second largest floating ice shelf in the Northern Hemisphere. This paper describes the history of its exploration and presents new ocean and glacier observations. We find that the floating ice shelf is strongly coupled to the ocean below and to Nar...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Andreas Münchow, Laurie Padman, Peter Washam, Keith W. Nicholls
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The Oceanography Society 2016-12-01
Series:Oceanography
Subjects:
Greenland
Petermann
calving
glacier
Online Access:https://tos.org/oceanography/assets/docs/29-4_munchow.pdf
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spelling doaj-932ca814acd941bb8f1fbc3ea7ea6dc12020-11-24T22:12:41ZengThe Oceanography SocietyOceanography1042-82752016-12-01294849510.5670/oceanog.2016.101The Ice Shelf of Petermann Gletscher, North Greenland, and Its Connection to the Arctic and Atlantic OceansAndreas Münchow0Laurie Padman1Peter Washam2Keith W. Nicholls3University of DelawareEarth & Space ResearchUniversity of DelawareBritish Antarctic SurveyPetermann Gletscher in North Greenland features the second largest floating ice shelf in the Northern Hemisphere. This paper describes the history of its exploration and presents new ocean and glacier observations. We find that the floating ice shelf is strongly coupled to the ocean below and to Nares Strait at time scales from tidal to interannual. Our observations cover the 2012 to 2016 period after two large calving events took place in 2010 and 2012 that reduced the ice shelf area by 380 km2 to about 870 km2 today. A potential third breakup, of an additional 150 km2, is anticipated by a large fracture that extends from the margin to the center of the glacier. https://tos.org/oceanography/assets/docs/29-4_munchow.pdfGreenlandPetermanncalvingglacier
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Andreas Münchow
Laurie Padman
Peter Washam
Keith W. Nicholls
spellingShingle Andreas Münchow
Laurie Padman
Peter Washam
Keith W. Nicholls
The Ice Shelf of Petermann Gletscher, North Greenland, and Its Connection to the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans
Oceanography
Greenland
Petermann
calving
glacier
author_facet Andreas Münchow
Laurie Padman
Peter Washam
Keith W. Nicholls
author_sort Andreas Münchow
title The Ice Shelf of Petermann Gletscher, North Greenland, and Its Connection to the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans
title_short The Ice Shelf of Petermann Gletscher, North Greenland, and Its Connection to the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans
title_full The Ice Shelf of Petermann Gletscher, North Greenland, and Its Connection to the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans
title_fullStr The Ice Shelf of Petermann Gletscher, North Greenland, and Its Connection to the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans
title_full_unstemmed The Ice Shelf of Petermann Gletscher, North Greenland, and Its Connection to the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans
title_sort ice shelf of petermann gletscher, north greenland, and its connection to the arctic and atlantic oceans
publisher The Oceanography Society
series Oceanography
issn 1042-8275
publishDate 2016-12-01
description Petermann Gletscher in North Greenland features the second largest floating ice shelf in the Northern Hemisphere. This paper describes the history of its exploration and presents new ocean and glacier observations. We find that the floating ice shelf is strongly coupled to the ocean below and to Nares Strait at time scales from tidal to interannual. Our observations cover the 2012 to 2016 period after two large calving events took place in 2010 and 2012 that reduced the ice shelf area by 380 km2 to about 870 km2 today. A potential third breakup, of an additional 150 km2, is anticipated by a large fracture that extends from the margin to the center of the glacier.
topic Greenland
Petermann
calving
glacier
url https://tos.org/oceanography/assets/docs/29-4_munchow.pdf
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