Abstract
Abstract. One-dimensional simulations of firn evolution neglect horizontal
advection from ice flow, which transports the firn column across climate
gradients as it is buried by accumulation. Using a suite of model runs, we
demonstrate the impacts of horizontal advection on the development of firn
density, temperature, and the stratigraphy of melt features through the
Greenland ice sheet percolation zone. The simulations isolate processes in
synthetic runs and investigate four specific transects and an ice core
site. Relative to one-dimensional simulations, the horizontal advection
process tends to increase the pore close-off depth, reduce the heat content,
and decrease the frequency of melt features with depth by emplacing firn
sourced from higher locations under increasingly warm and melt-affected
surface conditions. Preservation of the advected pore space and cold content
is strongly dependent upon the depth of meltwater infiltration. Horizontal
ice flow interacts with topography, climate gradients, and meltwater
infiltration to influence the evolution of the firn column structure; the
interaction between these variables modulates the impact of horizontal
advection on firn at locations around Greenland. Pore close-off and firn
temperature are mainly impacted in the lowermost 20–30 km of the percolation
zone, which may be relevant to migration of the lower percolation zone.
Relatively high in the percolation zone, however, the stratigraphy of melt
features can have an advection-derived component that should not be
conflated with changing climate.
Subject
Earth-Surface Processes,Water Science and Technology
Cited by
5 articles.
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