Greenland Ice Sheet Climate Science

The recovered ice samples tell us how much the ice sheet is melting at high elevations, how much dust and black soot (pollution) is accumulating and how these will affect global sea level rise. 

Traditionally the Inuit people of Greenland use teams of specially bred dogs to pull sleds, or toboggans, across the ice and snow while travelling and hunting. Teams vary in size from 5 to over 10 dogs, all working together. 

The sled dog driver is called the “musher” and communicates with the dogs through breathing and grunting sounds, causing them to turn one way or another, or stop.

The strongest dogs are usually selected to lead the pack. They are obedient and follow the musher’s commands,  giving the rest of the pack direction. 

The traditional Greenland sled (“Komatik”) is made from driftwood that washes up on the beach. The driftwood joints are tied together with rope and rawhide so the sled can flex as it’s pulled over rough ground by the dogs. 

This iceberg is described as ‘wedged’. This means it is flat on top with steep vertical sides on one end while sloping to lesser sides on the other end.  Other types of icebergs include tabular, domed, pinnacled, drydocked or blocky.

Due to the density of ice, over 90% of an iceberg is actually under the water to keep it afloat. Only 10% sits above the water - just like an ice cube to cool a drink.

Located on the Arctic Circle between the Greenland Ice Sheet and the east coast mountains, a team of scientists and skiers drill into the glacier to collect ice cores.

The core samples will determine how much the ice sheet is melting at high elevations, how much black soot/dust is present and how these are affecting sea level rise. This core site is at ~2400 meters above sea level and is within the accumulation zone of the Greenland Ice Sheet.

Mont Forel is Greenland’s second highest mountain. It’s summit is 3396 meters high. It was first climbed in 1938 by Swiss climber André Roch.

Using a hand-operated ice-corer, glaciologist Alun Hubbard drills a deep core down into the glacier to collect ice samples through time. 

Much like the rings in a tree, the layers of ice tell the history of the ice and the chemistry of the different layers tells us what the climate was like in the past, how the climate has changed and how it is affecting melting of the ice. 

The height of Mont Forel, Greenland’s second highest peak, had never previously been accurately measured. In order to precisely measure it’s height, the team needed to stand on the summit and place a geodetic GPS on the top. The only way to get there was to climb. 

The climbers use ice axes, crampons and ropes to tackle the mountain. When they reached the top, they accurately measured Mont Forel to be 3396 meters.

To the east of Mont Forel, numerous outlet glaciers can be seen flowing down to the ocean below where icebergs calve off into the ocean. The glacier you can see here is called the Fenris Glacier.

It is easy to think that glaciers are static or at least very slow moving. But glaciers flow - sometimes quite fast - downhill, transporting snow and ice like a huge conveyor belt from the high, interior region of the ice sheet to its lower margins.

When the team landed, Professor Hubbard used a geodetic GPS to measure the exact location of a fixed marker he placed in the middle camp.  At the end of the expedition 15 days later he took a repeat measurement of the same marker and calculated the difference.

He found that the glacier had moved over 16 meters in 2 weeks, averaging over 1 meter of movement towards the ocean each day.

The team is camped on the Fenris Glacier which drains the Greenland Ice Sheet. Below camp, the Fenris Glacier converges with the Paris Glacier, also draining the Ice Sheet.