Using GPS and Absolute Gravity Observations to Separate the Effects of Present-day and Pleistocene Ice-mass Changes in South East Greenland

Abstract:

Precise estimates of the present-day rates and accelerations of ice-mass loss from the polar ice-sheets are important for predicting potential changes in sea level. Current predictions of 21^st century sea level change are limited by, among other things, their ability to precisely capture the effects of global warming on the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS). One method for constraining the mass loss on the GrIS is to make measurements of vertical crustal uplift rates from bedrock around the edge of the ice sheet. Using only GPS observations of crustal displacement, it is impossible to separate the uplift driven by present day mass changes from that due to ice mass changes in the past, e.g. the extensive retreat of the ice sheets since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) or even ice sheet changes during the Little Ice Age. By making measurements of both gravity and surface motion at a bedrock site, the viscoelastic effects could be removed from the observations and we would be able to constrain present day ice mass changes. In this presentation we discuss the results of an experiment to collect surface displacement and absolute gravity observations from southeast Greenland to separate the elastic and viscoelastic signals. We find that the glacial isostatic adjustment signal in this region is positive, contrary to the negative signal predicted by all existing viscosity and ice history models.