Firn aquifers have been discovered across regions of the Greenland ice sheet with high snow accumulation and melt rates, but the processes and rates that sustain these aquifers have not been fully quantified or supported by field data. A quantitative description of the hydrology of a firn aquifer upslope from Helheim Glacier that integrates field measurements is presented to constrain melt and recharge rates and timing, temporal variations in temperature and water levels, and liquid‐water residence time. Field measurements include weather data, firn temperatures, water levels, geochemical tracers, and airborne radar data. Field measurements show that once the firn column is temperate (0°C), meltwater from the surface infiltrates to the water table in less than 2 days and raises the water table. Average recharge is 22 cm/year (lower 95% confidence interval is 13 cm/year and upper 95% confidence interval is 33 cm/year). Meltwater within the recently formed aquifer, which flows laterally downslope and likely discharges into crevasses, has a mean residence time of ~6.5 years. Airborne radar data suggest that the aquifer in the study area continues to expand inland, presumably from Arctic warming. These comprehensive field measurements and integrated description of aquifer hydrology provide a comprehensive, quantitative framework for modeling fluid flow through firn, and understanding existing and yet undiscovered firn aquifers, and may help researchers evaluate the role of firn aquifers in climate change impacts.
Surface melt produces more mass loss than any other process on the Greenland Ice Sheet. In some regions of Greenland with high summer surface melt and high winter snow accumulation, the warm porous firn of the percolation zone can retain liquid meltwater through the winter. These regions of water‐saturated firn, which may persist for longer than one year, are known as firn aquifers, commonly referred to as perennial firn aquifers. Here, we use airborne ice‐penetrating radar data from the Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS) to document the extent of four firn aquifers in the Helheim, Ikertivaq, and Køge Bugt glacier basins with more than six repeat radar flight lines from 1993 to 2018. All four firn aquifers first appear and/or show decadal‐scale inland expansion during this time period. Through an idealized energy‐balance calculation utilizing reanalysis data from the Modèle Atmosphérique Régionale (MAR) regional climate model, we find that these aquifer expansions are driven by decreasing cold content in the firn since the late 1990s and recently increasing high‐melt years, which has reduced the firn's ability for refreezing local meltwater. High‐melt years are projected to increase on the Greenland Ice Sheet and may contribute to the continued inland expansion of firn aquifers, impacting the ice sheet's surface mass balance and hydrological controls on ice dynamics.
more » « less- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10376192
- Publisher / Repository:
- DOI PREFIX: 10.1029
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface
- Volume:
- 127
- Issue:
- 10
- ISSN:
- 2169-9003
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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