Impacts of surface Melt on Greenland Ice Sheet change

 

Understanding the causes and rates of Greenland Ice Sheet disintegration continues to be an area of active research, motivated by the need to improve estimates of the contribution of the ice sheet to sea level rise. This field of study has included observations of thinning in marginal regions,

concern over changes in fast-flowing outlet glaciers, and the debated possibility that the Greenland Ice Sheet could retreat more rapidly than expected due to extensive surface melting. Improved understanding of such processes will have an important influence over our ability to accurately predict future changes in mass balance of the ice sheet. Observations from ground-based ice-penetrating radar and continuous GPS show that surface water enters the ice sheet in discreet locations where conditions allow moulins to form. Moulins appear to be persistent for several years but only a few appear to be capable of draining significant volumes of surface meltwater.