The Cryosphere, 5 September 2024
Deep fractures in the Greenland Ice Sheet are less likely to refreeze and close at threshold temperatures well below freezing ( −8 °C), worsening the impacts of meltwater lake drainage events and destabilizing the ice as temperatures rise with global warming. Already today, crevasses splinter deep into the ice sheet and even reach the bedrock if the surface layers of ice grow too warm. Authors warn that these fractures can funnel massive volumes of surface meltwater, overwhelming the drainage system below the ice sheet. Meltwater flooding through a single crevasse can trigger the massive weight of the ice sheet to slip faster into the ocean, and affect regions of the Greenland Ice Sheet tens of kilometers away. This study lays the groundwork for incorporating these fracturing and lake drainage processes into large-scale models of the Greenland Ice Sheet, ultimately improving future sea-level rise projections.
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