Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-2016
Keywords
glacier calving, ice block rotation, Lagrangian coordinates, subsurface melting, terrestrial radar interferometry
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2016.104
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.
Rights Information
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Journal of Glaciology, v. 62, issue 236, p. 1134-1142
Scholar Commons Citation
Xie, Surui; Dixon, Timothy H.; Voytenko, Denis; Holland, David M.; and Zheng, Tiantian, "Precursor Motion to Iceberg Calving at Jakobshavn Isbræ, Greenland, Observed with Terrestrial Radar Interferometry" (2016). School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications. 1091.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/geo_facpub/1091
