The melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet is altering the porous firn layer at the glacier surface, significantly reducing its ability to retain water. As a result, increasing amounts of meltwater reach the base of the glaciers, where it influences glacier sliding and subglacial water drains into the fjords. The hydrology of the ice sheet remains poorly understood, and, in particular, the interactions between hydrology and glacier dynamics have not yet been sufficiently investigated. This is the focus of the ERC Synergy Project FirnMelt, in which Angelika Humbert and three international partners will work together over six years with a total of 16 early-career researchers. Simulations using new process models, developing coupled simulations of the hydrology-ice-sheet system and hence establishing a new generation of modelling approaches. A comprehensive observation program—including field campaigns, airborne measurements, and satellite observations—will provide essential data for model development.

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Further information:

https://www.awi.de/ueber-uns/service/presse/presse-detailansicht/erc-synergy-grant-der-weg-des-schmelzwassers-auf-groenlands-gletschern.html