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DOI | 10.5194/tc-13-1785-2019 |
Spatiotemporal distributions of icebergs in a temperate fjord: Columbia Fjord, Alaska | |
Neuhaus S.U.; Tulaczyk S.M.; Begeman C.B. | |
发表日期 | 2019 |
ISSN | 19940416 |
EISSN | 13 |
起始页码 | 1785 |
结束页码 | 1799 |
卷号 | 13期号:7 |
英文摘要 | Much of the world's ice enters the ocean via outlet glaciers terminating in fjords. Inside fjords, icebergs may affect glacier-ocean interactions by cooling incoming ocean waters, enhancing vertical mixing, or providing back stress on the terminus. However, relatively few studies have been performed on iceberg dynamics inside fjords, particularly outside of Greenland. We examine icebergs calved from Columbia Glacier, Alaska, over 8 months spanning late winter to mid-fall using 0.5m resolution satellite imagery, identifying icebergs based on pixel brightness. Iceberg sizes fit a power-law distribution with an overall power-law exponent, m, of -1.26±0.05. Seasonal variations in the power-law exponent indicate that brittle fracture of icebergs is more prevalent in the summer months. Combining our results with those from previous studies of iceberg distributions, we find that iceberg calving rate, rather than water temperature, appears to be the major control on the exponent value. We also analyze icebergs' spatial distribution inside the fjord and find that large icebergs (10 000-100 000 m2 cross-sectional area) have low spatial correlation with icebergs of smaller sizes due to their tendency to ground on shallow regions. We estimate the surface area of icebergs in contact with incoming seawater to be 3.0±0.63 104 m2. Given the much larger surface area of the terminus, 9:7±3:7×105 m2, ocean interactions with the terminus may have a larger impact on ocean heat content than interactions with icebergs. © 2019 Author(s). |
学科领域 | brittle fracture; cooling; fjord; ice-ocean interaction; iceberg; iceberg calving; satellite imagery; seasonal variation; seawater; spatial distribution; temporal distribution; Alaska; Arctic; Columbia Glacier; Greenland; United States |
语种 | 英语 |
scopus关键词 | brittle fracture; cooling; fjord; ice-ocean interaction; iceberg; iceberg calving; satellite imagery; seasonal variation; seawater; spatial distribution; temporal distribution; Alaska; Arctic; Columbia Glacier; Greenland; United States |
来源期刊 | The Cryosphere |
文献类型 | 期刊论文 |
条目标识符 | http://gcip.llas.ac.cn/handle/2XKMVOVA/118866 |
作者单位 | Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, United States; Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, United States |
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714 | Neuhaus S.U.,Tulaczyk S.M.,Begeman C.B.. Spatiotemporal distributions of icebergs in a temperate fjord: Columbia Fjord, Alaska[J],2019,13(7). |
APA | Neuhaus S.U.,Tulaczyk S.M.,&Begeman C.B..(2019).Spatiotemporal distributions of icebergs in a temperate fjord: Columbia Fjord, Alaska.The Cryosphere,13(7). |
MLA | Neuhaus S.U.,et al."Spatiotemporal distributions of icebergs in a temperate fjord: Columbia Fjord, Alaska".The Cryosphere 13.7(2019). |
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