Climatic Drivers of Ice Slabs and Firn Aquifers in Greenland

M. Brils; P. Kuipers Munneke; N. Jullien; A. J. Tedstone; H. Machguth; W. J. van de Berg; M. R. van den Broeke

doi:10.1029/2023GL106613

Climatic Drivers of Ice Slabs and Firn Aquifers in Greenland

M. Brils^*, P. Kuipers Munneke, N. Jullien, A. J. Tedstone, H. Machguth, W. J. van de Berg, M. R. van den Broeke

^*Corresponding author for this work

University of Fribourg

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Recent observations revealed the existence of ice slabs and aquifers on the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS). Both affect the ice sheet's hydrology: ice slabs facilitate runoff and aquifers modulate drainage to the bed. However, their climatic drivers and history remain unclear, as most observations cover only two decades. Here, we present a model simulation of the evolution of GrIS ice slabs and aquifers (1980–2020), evaluated using radar measurements. The results show that accumulation, melt and rain rates are good predictors for the spatial distribution of ice slabs and aquifers. Both features were already present in the late 1980s, and their extent remained relatively constant until the beginning of this century, after which increased melt led to their expansion. We show that almost any transect from the coast to the ice-sheet interior will cross either an ice slab region, or an aquifer, or both.

Original language	English
Article number	e2023GL106613
Pages (from-to)	1-9
Number of pages	9
Journal	Geophysical Research Letters
Volume	51
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL106613
Publication status	Published - 16 Feb 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024. The Authors.

Funding

MB, PKM and MvdB acknowledge funding from the Netherlands Earth System Science Centre (NESSC), financed by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW Grant 024.002.001). This publication was also supported by PROTECT. This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant agreement No 869304, PROTECT contribution number 86. NJ, AT and HM are funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (project acronym CASSANDRA, grant agreement No. 818994). We acknowledge ECMWF for computational time on their supercomputers. We thank Kristin Poinar and an anonymous reviewer for very helpful comments.

Funders	Funder number
PROTECT
European Research Council	818994
Ministerie van onderwijs, cultuur en wetenschap	024.002.001
Horizon 2020	869304
Netherlands Earth System Science Centre

Keywords

Greenland
aquifers
firn
ice sheet
ice slabs
modeling

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Geophysical Research Letters - 2024 - Brils - Climatic Drivers of Ice Slabs and Firn Aquifers in GreenlandFinal published version, 1.06 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

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title = "Climatic Drivers of Ice Slabs and Firn Aquifers in Greenland",

abstract = "Recent observations revealed the existence of ice slabs and aquifers on the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS). Both affect the ice sheet's hydrology: ice slabs facilitate runoff and aquifers modulate drainage to the bed. However, their climatic drivers and history remain unclear, as most observations cover only two decades. Here, we present a model simulation of the evolution of GrIS ice slabs and aquifers (1980–2020), evaluated using radar measurements. The results show that accumulation, melt and rain rates are good predictors for the spatial distribution of ice slabs and aquifers. Both features were already present in the late 1980s, and their extent remained relatively constant until the beginning of this century, after which increased melt led to their expansion. We show that almost any transect from the coast to the ice-sheet interior will cross either an ice slab region, or an aquifer, or both.",

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Climatic Drivers of Ice Slabs and Firn Aquifers in Greenland

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

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