Andresen Camilla S.

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Andresen
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Camilla S.
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  • Article
    Outlet glacier dynamics and bathymetry at Upernavik Isstrøm and Upernavik Isfjord, North-West Greenland
    (Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, 2014-07) Andresen, Camilla S. ; Kjeldsen, Kristian K. ; Harden, Benjamin E. ; Norgaard-Pedersen, Niels ; Kjaer, Kurt H.
    During the past decades, the Greenland ice sheet has experienced a marked increase in mass loss resulting in an increased contribution to global sea-level rise. The three largest outlet glaciers in Greenland have increased their discharge, accelerated, thinned and retreated between 1996 and 2005. After 2005 most of them have slowed down again although not to previous levels. Geodetic observations suggest that rapid increase in mass loss from the north-western part of the ice sheet occurred during 2005–2010 (Kjeldsen et al. 2013). Warming of the subsurface water masses off Greenland may have triggered the acceleration of outlet glaciers from the ice sheet (Straneo & Heimbach 2013). The North Atlantic subpolar gyre, which transports water to South-East and West Greenland via the warm Irminger Current, warmed in the mid-1990s. Increased inflow of warm subpolar waters likely led to increased submarine melting of tidewater glaciers. Climate, glacier configuration and fjord bathymetry play fundamental roles for outlet glacier dynamics and thus knowledge of these parameters is warranted. In particular, the bathymetry of a fjord gives important information about the exchange between fjord waters close to marine-terminating glaciers and the shelf and ocean. However, only sparse bathymetric data are available for the majority of fjords in Greenland. The International bathymetry chart for the Arctic Ocean (IBCAO) does not provide adequate data for the fjords and gives the impression that water depths in fjords are typically <200 m. Here we present the first detailed bathymetric data from Upernavik Isfjord in North-West Greenland, which were obtained during a cruise led by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland in August 2013. The purpose of the cruise was to retrieve sediment cores, collect hydrographic data and map the bathymetry of the fjord. In this paper, we also estimate retreat rates of the Upernavik Isstrøm since 1849 and evaluate them in the context of climate variability, glacier setting and fjord bathymetry.
  • Preprint
    Rapid response of Helheim Glacier in Greenland to climate variability over the past century
    ( 2011-11-08) Andresen, Camilla S. ; Straneo, Fiamma ; Ribergaard, Mads H. ; Bjork, Anders A. ; Andersen, Thorbjorn J. ; Kuijpers, Antoon ; Norgaard-Pedersen, Niels ; Kjaer, Kurt H. ; Schjoth, Frands ; Weckstrom, Kaarina ; Ahlstrom, Andreas P.
    During the early 2000s the Greenland Ice Sheet experienced the largest ice mass loss observed on the instrumental record1, largely as a result of the acceleration, thinning and retreat of major outlet glaciers in West and Southeast Greenland2-5. The quasi-simultaneous change in the glaciers suggests a common climate forcing and increasing air6 and ocean7-8 temperatures have been indicated as potential triggers. Here, we present a new record of calving activity of Helheim Glacier, East Greenland, extending back to c. 1890 AD. This record was obtained by analysing sedimentary deposits from Sermilik Fjord, where Helheim Glacier terminates, and uses the annual deposition of sand grains as a proxy for iceberg discharge. The 120 year long record reveals large fluctuations in calving rates, but that the present high rate was reproduced only in the 1930s. A comparison with climate indices indicates that high calving activity coincides with increased Atlantic Water and decreased Polar Water influence on the shelf, warm summers and a negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation. Our analysis provides evidence that Helheim Glacier responds to short-term (3-10 years) large-scale oceanic and atmospheric fluctuations.
  • Article
    Export of ice sheet meltwater from Upernavik Fjord, West Greenland
    (American Meteorological Society, 2022-03-01) Muilwijk, Morven ; Straneo, Fiamma ; Slater, Donald A. ; Smedsrud, Lars H. ; Holte, James W. ; Wood, Michael ; Andresen, Camilla S. ; Harden, Benjamin E.
    Meltwater from Greenland is an important freshwater source for the North Atlantic Ocean, released into the ocean at the head of fjords in the form of runoff, submarine melt, and icebergs. The meltwater release gives rise to complex in-fjord transformations that result in its dilution through mixing with other water masses. The transformed waters, which contain the meltwater, are exported from the fjords as a new water mass Glacially Modified Water (GMW). Here we use summer hydrographic data collected from 2013 to 2019 in Upernavik, a major glacial fjord in northwest Greenland, to describe the water masses that flow into the fjord from the shelf and the exported GMWs. Using an optimum multi-parameter technique across multiple years we then show that GMW is composed of 57.8% ± 8.1% Atlantic Water (AW), 41.0% ± 8.3% Polar Water (PW), 1.0% ± 0.1% subglacial discharge, and 0.2% ± 0.2% submarine meltwater. We show that the GMW fractional composition cannot be described by buoyant plume theory alone since it includes lateral mixing within the upper layers of the fjord not accounted for by buoyant plume dynamics. Consistent with its composition, we find that changes in GMW properties reflect changes in the AW and PW source waters. Using the obtained dilution ratios, this study suggests that the exchange across the fjord mouth during summer is on the order of 50 mSv (1 Sv ≡ 106 m3 s−1) (compared to a freshwater input of 0.5 mSv). This study provides a first-order parameterization for the exchange at the mouth of glacial fjords for large-scale ocean models.