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www.the-cryosphere-discuss.net/5/1335/2011/
doi:10.5194/tcd-5-1335-2011
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Warming of waters in an East Greenland fjord prior to glacier retreat: mechanisms and connection to large-scale atmospheric conditions
1Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
2Environmental Systems Science Centre, University of Reading, Reading, UK
3School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
4Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
5Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA
6School of the Environment and Society, Swansea University, Swansea, UK
Abstract. Hydrographic data acquired in Kangerlugssuaq Fjord and adjacent seas in 1993 and 2004 are used together with ocean reanalysis to elucidate water mass change and ice-ocean-atmosphere interactions in East Greenland. The hydrographic data show substantial warming of fjord waters between 1993 and 2004 and warm subsurface conditions coincide with the rapid retreat of Kangerlugssuaq Glacier in 2004–2005. The ocean reanalysis shows that the warm properties of fjord waters in 2004 are related to a major peak in oceanic shoreward heat flux into a cross-shelf trough on the outer continental shelf. The heat flux into this trough varies according to seasonal exchanges with the atmosphere as well as from deep seasonal intrusions of subtropical waters. Both mechanisms contribute to high (low) shoreward heat flux when winds from the northeast are weak (strong). The combined effect of surface heating and inflow of subtropical waters is seen in the hydrographic data, which were collected after periods when along-shore coastal winds from the north were strong (1993) and weak (2004). We show that coastal winds vary according to the pressure gradient defined by a semi-permanent atmospheric pressure system over Greenland and a persistent atmospheric low situated near Iceland. The magnitude of this pressure gradient is controlled by longitudinal variability in the position of the Icelandic Low.
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Notice on Discussion StatusCitation: Christoffersen, P., Mugford, R. I., Heywood, K. J., Joughin, I., Dowdeswell, J. A., Syvitski, J. P. M., Luckman, A., and Benham, T. J.: Warming of waters in an East Greenland fjord prior to glacier retreat: mechanisms and connection to large-scale atmospheric conditions, The Cryosphere Discuss., 5, 1335-1364, doi:10.5194/tcd-5-1335-2011, 2011. Bibtex EndNote Reference Manager XML
