Zachariae Isstrom
Zachariae Isstrom or Zachariæ Isstrøm (78°00′N 30°00′W / 78.000°N 30.000°W), is a large glacier located in northeast Greenland. It drains an area of 91,780 km2 (35,440 sq mi) of the Greenland Ice Sheet with a flux (quantity of ice moved from the land to the sea) of 11.7 km3 (2.8 cu mi) per year, as measured for 1996.[1] Isstrøm is the Danish word for ice stream.
Zachariæ Isstrøm terminates into an embayment packed with multi-year calf ice.[2]
If the Zachariae Isstrom retreat continues, the largest ice sheet ice stream that empties into Zachariae Isstrom might accelerate, the ice stream front freed of damming back stress, increasing the ice sheet mass budget deficit substantially.[3]
The glacier "holds a 0.5-meter sea-level rise equivalent." It "entered a phase of accelerated retreat in fall 2012. The acceleration rate of its ice velocity tripled." In 2015 it detached "from a stabilizing sill and retreat rapidly along a downward-sloping, marine-based bed."[4]
References
- ^ Rignot E., Kanagaratnam P. (2006). "Changes in the velocity structure of the Greenland Ice Sheet". Science. 311 (5763): 986–990. doi:10.1126/science.1121381. PMID 16484490.
- ^ Greenland marine-terminating glacier area changes: 2000–2010
- ^ Glacier changes for 2008 Greenland ice sheet outlet glacier front changes: comparison of year 2008 with past years
- ^ Fast Retreat of Zachariæ Isstrøm, Northeast Greenland
External links
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