Welcome to the new version of CaltechAUTHORS. Login is currently restricted to library staff. If you notice any issues, please email coda@library.caltech.edu
Published October 11, 1996 | public
Journal Article

A Mini-Surge on the Ryder Glacier, Greenland, Observed by Satellite Radar Interferometry

Abstract

Satellite radar interferometry reveals that the speed of the Ryder Glacier increased roughly threefold and then returned to normal (100 to 500 meters/year) over a 7-week period near the end of the 1995 melt season. The accelerated flow represents a substantial, though short-lived, change in ice discharge. During the period of rapid motion, meltwater-filled supraglacial lakes may have drained, which could have increased basal water pressure and caused the mini-surge. There are too few velocity measurements on other large outlet glaciers to determine whether this type of event is a widespread phenomenon in Greenland, but because most other outlet glaciers are at lower latitudes, they should experience more extensive melting, making them more susceptible to meltwater-induced surges.

Additional Information

© 1996 American Association for the Advancement of Science. 28 June 1996; Accepted 21 August 1996. We thank B. Bindschadler and the reviewers for their comments on the manuscript, and C. Werner for providing the synthetic aperture radar processor. I.J. and R.K. performed this work at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory under contract with NASA. S.T. acknowledges support from the henry and Grazyna Bauer fellowship. M.F. was supported under NASA Mission to Planet Earth Grant NAGW4285. Radar data were supplied by the European Space Agency.

Additional details

Created:
August 19, 2023
Modified:
October 18, 2023