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Details of Award

NERC Reference : NE/V006517/1

Assessing ocean-forced, marine-terminating glacier change in Greenland during climatic warm periods and its impact on marine productivity (Kang-Glac)

Grant Award

Principal Investigator:
Professor JA Howe, Scottish Association For Marine Science, Contracts Office
Co-Investigator:
Professor M Inall, Scottish Association For Marine Science, Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory
Science Area:
Marine
Terrestrial
Overall Classification:
Unknown
ENRIs:
Environmental Risks and Hazards
Global Change
Science Topics:
Glacial & Cryospheric Systems
Quaternary Science
Sediment/Sedimentary Processes
Biogeochemical Cycles
Ocean Circulation
Abstract:
The receding Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) is now the largest contributor to global sea-level rise. A major driving force behind this recession is the encroachment of warm ocean water through fjords to the faces of marine-terminating outlet glaciers (MTOGs) that drain the ice sheet. Satellite data confirm that these glaciers have thinned, accelerated and retreated over the past few decades, but with significant temporal and spatial variability. Despite this information, our ability to predict how, and at what rate, the ice sheet will respond to future warming is made difficult by a lack of direct observations from these remote and often ice-infested areas and by the limited time-series of existing datasets. Constraining Greenland's likely decay trajectory is necessary to evaluate policy options with regard to its contribution to sea level rise. However, the wider effects of this decay also encompass the marine environments bordering the landmass. Increasing the supply of freshwater to these areas (as meltwater and icebergs) alters circulation patterns and impacts North Atlantic weather systems, including those affecting the UK. It also brings nutrients to offshore areas that promote marine productivity, which in turn has the potential to draw down more atmospheric CO2 and bury organic carbon in fjord and shelf sediments. To date, these processes have not been quantified and we need to improve our understanding of this negative feedback to climate change before it can be incorporated into predictive models. One way to determine which ice-ocean-marine ecosystem scenarios are analogues for future warming scenarios is to extend the record of modern observations back over the last 11,700 years of the Holocene using proxies from marine sediment cores. A few records of 20th Century iceberg calving and warm water encroachment exist around Greenland but there are no comprehensive, coupled records of past glacier change, ocean warming and marine productivity for earlier periods. Here, we propose to generate these long-term records for the Holocene era for a key location in SE Greenland (Kangerlussuaq Fjord) calibrated by observations of the present-day system over three annual cycles. We will then use numerical modelling constrained by our new data to test how the Greenland Ice Sheet responded to climatic warming during the Holocene, particularly during the Holocene Thermal Maximum when summer temperatures were analogous to those predicted for 2100. We will acquire a full suite of oceanographic, biological and geological observations during a 6-week multidisciplinary cruise to SE Greenland on the UK's new polar research vessel, the RRS Sir David Attenborough, making full use of its state-of-the-art capabilities as a logistical platform. We will use cruise datasets to determine modern interactions between warm water inflows and glacial meltwater outflows, and to quantify marine productivity, sedimentation and nutrient cycling. At the same time, we will collect long and short marine-sediment cores and terrestrial rock samples to constrain past changes in glacier dynamics and derive coupled proxy records of ocean temperatures and carbon burial/storage. To do this, we will calibrate the sediment-core signals with our modern observations using an anchored mooring and repeat observations.
Period of Award:
1 Apr 2024 - 30 Sep 2027
Value:
£353,975 Split Award
Authorised funds only
NERC Reference:
NE/V006517/1
Grant Stage:
Awaiting Event/Action
Scheme:
Directed (Research Programmes)
Grant Status:
Active
Programme:
Highlights

This grant award has a total value of £353,975  

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FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)

Indirect - Indirect CostsDA - InvestigatorsDI - EquipmentDA - Estate CostsDI - StaffDI - T&S
£130,814£77,509£6,600£32,082£100,579£6,390

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