Bubble bursts increase melt rates of tidewater glaciers
Bubble bursts increase melt rates of tidewater glaciers | Nature Geoscience
Glacier ice contains high-pressure air bubbles, which burst into seawater as ice melts at tidewater glacier termini. Laboratory measurements found that these bubbles double the rate of ice melt. Theoretically, this effect could be even larger in a real glacier. However, bursting bubbles are currently neglected in models projecting sea level rise.
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Sutherland, D. A. et al. Direct observations of submarine melt and subsurface geometry at a tidewater glacier. Science 365, 369–374 (2019). This paper compares observations of tidewater glacier melt rate with model predictions.
Jackson, R. H. et al. Meltwater intrusions reveal mechanisms for rapid submarine melt at a tidewater glacier. Geophys. Res. Lett. 47, e2019GL085335 (2020). This paper highlights mechanisms for tidewater glacier melt and possible model adjustments to improve predictions.
Pettit, E. C. et al. Unusually loud ambient noise in tidewater glacier fjords: A signal of ice melt. Geophys. Res. Lett. 42, 2309–2316 (2015). This paper identifies that ambient noise in glacierized fjords is partially produced by bubbles and could be used as a signature of ice melt.
Glowacki, O., Moskalik, M. & Deane, G. B. The impact of glacier meltwater on the underwater noise field in a glacial bay. J. Geophys. Res. Oceans 121, 8455–8470 (2016). This paper presents the physics of acoustic sound propagation within glacier fjords to enable quantitative acoustic observations.
Pettit, E. C., Nystuen, J. A. & O’Neel, S. H. A. D. Listening to glaciers: Passive hydroacoustics near marine-terminating glaciers. Oceanography 25, 104–105 (2012). This paper presents various sources of acoustic noise in glacier fjords.
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This is a summary of: Wengrove, M. E. et al. Melting of glacier ice enhanced by bursting air bubbles. Nat. Geosci. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01262-8(2023).
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Bubble bursts increase melt rates of tidewater glaciers. Nat. Geosci. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01271-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01271-7
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