Ice‐Marginal Proglacial Lakes Across Greenland: Present Status and a Possible Future

Abstract

The future evolution of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) is of global concern because its meltwater runoff will contribute tens to hundreds of millimeters of sea level rise through the next century (

Mass Loss of Glaciers and Ice Caps Across Greenland Since the Little Ice Age

“…Numerical models of glacier evolution should become mindful of changing terminus environments. Given that we find 242 fewer marine terminating GICs in 2001 than during the LIA termination and that the number of lake-terminating GICs have increased slightly by 24 (Figure 3), we interpret that (a) many GICs that were marine-based during the LIA are now terminating on land, and (b) some GICs have developed ice-marginal lakes at their termini as those lakes have formed in the last few decades and inside LIA moraine ridges, for example, as shown across Greenland by How et al (2021), Carrivick, How, et al (2022. The influence of lake effects on glacier mass balance (e.g., Carrivick, Tweed, et al, 2020), in addition to climate forcing, could explain why the greatest changes of mass loss have occurred for lake-terminating glaciers, which is an association that we find exists to a greater or lesser extent in all Greenland regions (Figure 3).…”

Increasing rate of 21st century volume loss of the Patagonian Icefields measured from proglacial river discharge

“…None of our study areas contain large land-terminating glaciers by the end of our study period and this ice volume loss method cannot be applied to tidewater glaciers, so we do not assess the relative changes of land, lake, and marine terminating glaciers. Both numerical models (e.g., Sutherland and others, 2020; Carrivick and others, 2022) and remote observations (e.g., Baurley and others, 2020; Mallalieu and others, 2021; Carrivick and others, 2022) ranging from New Zealand to Greenland have shown that ice-contact lakes may both initiate and accelerate glacier retreat. Our results are consistent with this and further emphasize that ice-contact lakes must be accounted for when forecasting future ice volumes.…”

Glacier thinning, recession and advance, and the associated evolution of a glacial lake between 1966 and 2021 at Austerdalsbreen, western Norway

“…Due to the water contact of the glacier ice and the related thermallydriven circulation of water in the proglacial water bodies, ice-marginal lakes can be important for glacier ablation and ice dynamics (Carrivick et al, 2022b(Carrivick et al, , 2022cCarrivick & Tweed, 2013;Truffer & Motyka, 2016).…”

“…The presence of debris cover and its thickness affects ablation as empirically observed (Østrem, 1959) and described in a theoretical model of glacial melting (Evatt et al, 2015). Due to the water contact of the glacier ice and the related thermally‐driven circulation of water in the proglacial water bodies, ice‐marginal lakes can be important for glacier ablation and ice dynamics (Carrivick et al, 2022b, 2022c; Carrivick & Tweed, 2013; Truffer & Motyka, 2016).…”

“…This is due to the intensive thermal exchange between lake water and ice, which directly impacts the proglacial evolution (Falatkova et al, 2019). As a result of the current overall mass loss and glacier retreat, the number of ice‐marginal lakes is expected to increase (e.g., Carrivick, et al, 2022b). However, ice‐marginal lakes are often not explicitly accounted for in studies related to ice loss and glacier dynamics (Carrivick, et al, 2022b; Sutherland et al, 2020).…”