Greenland Ice Sheet's distinct calving styles are identified in terminus
change timeseries
Abstract
At least three primary iceberg calving styles have been identified in
Greenland: serac collapse, which produces falling icebergs tens of
meters in length; buoyant flexure, which produces capsizing icebergs
hundreds of meters in length; and tabular rifting, which produces
kilometer-scale icebergs. However, calving styles are mostly
undocumented across Greenland. Here, we develop a method to disentangle
the sizes of individual calving events and map the dominant calving
style at glaciers, using the characteristic properties of step retreats
in satellite-derived terminus positions. At glaciers known to frequently
produce glacial earthquakes, step retreats greater than 200 meters
account for >80% of net retreat since 2018. In contrast,
at glaciers known to calve by serac failure, 200 meter step retreats
account < 20% of net retreat. Thus, terminus change
timeseries can offer promising insight into the dominant calving styles
at marine-terminating glaciers.