Zachariae Isstrom

Zachariae Isstrom

1911 map with the Zachariæ Isstrøm at the bottom
Location within Greenland

Location within Greenland

Type Piedmont glacier
Location Greenland
Coordinates 78°0′N 30°0′W / 78.000°N 30.000°W / 78.000; -30.000Coordinates: 78°0′N 30°0′W / 78.000°N 30.000°W / 78.000; -30.000
Area 91,780 km2 (35,440 sq mi)
Width 26 km
Terminus Greenland Sea
North Atlantic Ocean

Zachariae Isstrom (Danish: Zachariæ Isstrøm; Isstrøm being the Danish word for ice stream) is a large glacier located in King Frederick VIII Land, northeast Greenland.

Geography

It drains an area of 91,780 km2 (35,440 sq mi) of the Greenland Ice Sheet with a flux (quantity of ice moved from the land to the sea) of 11.7 km3 (2.8 cu mi) per year, as calculated for 1996,[1] increasing to 15 km3 (3.6 cu mi) in 2015.[2] The glacier holds a 0.5-meter sea-level rise equivalent.

Zachariæ Isstrøm has its terminus south of Lambert Land and north of Nørreland, near the Achton Friis Islands.[3] It terminates into an embayment previously packed with multi-year calf ice.[4]

Glacier retreat

Zachariæ Isstrøm broke loose from a stable position in 2012 and entered a phase of accelerated retreat as predicted in 2008.[5]

From a state of approximate mass balance until 2003 it is now losing mass at about 5 Gt/yr. The ice velocity increased by 50% in 2000-2014. In 2015 it detached from a stabilizing sill and retreated rapidly along a downward-sloping, marine-based bed[2] with substantial calving[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Rignot E., Kanagaratnam P. (2006). "Changes in the velocity structure of the Greenland Ice Sheet". Science. 311 (5763): 986–990. doi:10.1126/science.1121381. PMID 16484490.
  2. 1 2 Fast Retreat of Zachariæ Isstrøm, Northeast Greenland
  3. ↑ "Zachariae Isstrøm". Mapcarta. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  4. ↑ Greenland marine-terminating glacier area changes: 2000–2010
  5. ↑ Glacier changes for 2008 Greenland ice sheet outlet glacier front changes: comparison of year 2008 with past years
  6. ↑ NASA Earth Observatory December 4, 2015


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