signature=f39c225680c32a96974dd27f05d5477a,Response of Jakobshavn Isbræ, west Greenland, to Little I...

摘要：

The Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS) plays a critical role in the cryosphere's link with climate change. The recent fluctuations of thickness and velocity of Jakobshavn Isbr, one of the largest outlet glaciers draining the GIS, indicates that Greenland's outlet glaciers have the potential to make faster contributions to sea-level rise than previously believed. To evaluate whether ongoing changes in ice flow are climatically significant, ice stream histories must be determined over longer timescales. Although the 35 km retreat of Jakobshavn Isbr's calving front since the Little Ice Age (LIA) maximum extent (1850 AD) is well documented, it is does not represent the history of the broader ice margin because the terminus was periodically floating and thus susceptible to subtle perturbations in climate and ocean conditions. Here, we combine a 3D reconstruction of margin retreat from the LIA extent, measured from stereo imagery, with a geologic reconstruction of the timing and magnitude of the advance phase of the ice margin during LIA, to quantify the response of broader Jakobshavn Isbr ice margin to LIA climate change. We measured the ice sheet margin in 3D from vegetation trimlines marking the LIA ice extent (1850 AD), aerial photographs acquired in 1985, and SPOT satellite images acquired in 2007. The calving front of Jakobshavn Isbr retreated at an average rate of 0.178 km/yr between the LIA and 1985 (over which time mean annual temperature increased by 2.76°C). The average retreat rate increased to 0.545 km/yr between 1985 and 2007 (mean annual temperature increased 0.23°C). Land based margins north of Jakobshavn Isbr retreated at an average rate of 0.007 km/yr between 1850 and 1985, and increased to 0.030 km/yr between 1985 and 2007. Alanngorliup Sermia, an outlet glacier ~30 km south of Jakobshavn Isbr, experienced negligible change between 1850 and 1985, and retreated at an average rate of 0.017 km/yr between 1985 and 2007. We place these post-1850 AD ice margin changes into a longer-term context using sedimentary signatures stored in proglacial threshold lakes. Radiocarbon-dated sediment sequences from three lakes reveal that the land-based ice margin north of Jakobshavn Isbr has resided near its 1850 extent since 1400-1640 AD. Data from one lake south of Jakobshavn Isbr suggest that the ice margin has been near its 1850 margin for ~2000 years. Together, these data reveal that the Jakobshavn ice margin responds to climate change on centennial timescales, but varying rates of retreat since 1850 AD highlight the modulation of retreat by dynamic controls. Furthermore, on centennial timescales, the marine terminus of Jakobshavn Isbr seems to have a significantly larger response than adjacent land-based margins to equal climate forcing.

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