More Icebergs Might Lead to More Glacier Melt – and More Icebergs…

Nature Communications, November 25

Congestion of icebergs near an outlet glacier might lead to an increase in warmer water at the glacier’s base, causing greater calving of icebergs and even more ice loss, in a continuing feedback loop.  This modeling study found that underwater melting of icebergs in Greenland’s Sermilik fjord, at the end of the Helheim glacier, could lead to up to a 50% increase in the transport of warm water towards the glacier’s base during the summer months. This warmer water flows from depths greater than 200 m in the nearby Atlantic, and has the potential to then further accelerate Helheim’s melting and calving. This positive feedback loop could therefore further increase glacier mass loss in iceberg-congested fjords, increasing their contribution to global sea-level rise. Helheim is one of the main outlet glaciers of the Greenland ice sheet.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-19805-7

Compiled by Amy Imdieke.