Flow Dynamics and Stability of the NE Greenland Ice Stream from Active Seismics and Radar

Abstract:

We find that dilatant till facilitates rapid ice flow in central Greenland, and regions of dryer till limit the expansion of ice flow. The Northeast Greenland Ice Stream (NEGIS) is the largest ice stream in Greenland, draining 8.4% of the ice sheet’s area. Fast ice flow initiates near the ice sheet summit in a region of high geothermal heat flow and extends some 700km downstream to three outlet glaciers along the NE Coast. The flow pattern and stability mechanism of this ice stream are unique to others in Greenland and Antarctica, and merit further study to ascertain the sensitivity of this ice stream to future climate change.

In this study, we present the results of the first-ever ground-based geophysical survey of the initiation zone of NEGIS. Based on radar and preliminary seismic data, Christianson et al. (2014, EPSL) propose a flow mechanism for the ice stream based on topographically driven hydropotential lows which generate ‘sticky’ regions of the bed under the ice stream margins. We further test this hypothesis using a 40km reflection seismic survey across both ice stream margins. We find that regions of ‘sticky’ bed as observed by the radar survey are coincident with regions of the bed with seismic returns indicating drier subglacial sediments. These findings are further supported by five amplitude-verses-offset seismic surveys indicating dilatant till within the ice stream and consolidated sediments within its margins.