Daily News Latest trending news
Through Jonathan Amos BBC Science Correspondent 14 Would possibly 2019
Symbol copyright Copernicus Sentinel knowledge (2019)/Esa Symbol caption Jakobshavn in April this 12 months: The glacier is crucial drainage outlet for the Greenland Ice Sheet
Eu satellites have detailed the abrupt alternate in behaviour of considered one of Greenland’s maximum necessary glaciers.
Within the 2000s, Jakobshavn Isbrae used to be the quickest flowing ice circulation at the island, travelling at 17km a 12 months.
Because it sped to the sea, its entrance finish additionally retreated and thinned, losing in peak by means of up to 20m 12 months.
However now it’s all alternate. Jakobshavn is travelling a lot more slowly, and its trunk has even begun to thicken and prolong.
“It’s an entire reversal in behaviour and it wasn’t predicted,” mentioned Dr Anna Hogg from Leeds College and the United Kingdom Centre for Polar Remark and Modelling (CPOM).
“The query now’s: what’s subsequent for Jakobshavn? Is that this only a pause, or is it a switch-off of the dynamic thinning we’ve noticed prior to now?”
Symbol copyright CPOM–A. E. Hogg Symbol caption Alternate in peak: There used to be a marked alternate after 2013
The glacier is sited in southwest Greenland. It’s well-known for its impressive manufacturing of icebergs – colossal blocks calve from its terminus and glide down its fjord, out into Disko Bay and onwards to the North Atlantic.
Most probably, it used to be Jakobshavn that spawned the iceberg that sank the Titanic.
Scientists’ hobby within the glacier lies in its position as a drainage outlet for the Greenland Ice Sheet. It’s a key channel for the export of ice that may then elevate international sea ranges.
