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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Andrew RussellORCiD, Dr Meredith Williams
Jokulhlaups in 2007 and 2008 from an ice-dammed lake at the northern margin of Russell Glacier, West Greenland, marked the onset of a renewed jokulhlaup cycle after 20 years of stability. We present a record of successive ice-dammed lake drainage events and associated ice-margin dynamics spanning similar to 25 years. Robust calculations of lake volumes and peak discharges are made, based on intensive field surveys and utilizing high-spatial-resolution orthophotographs of the lake basin and ice margin. These data enable identification of controls on the behaviour of the ice-dammed lake and provide the first field-based examination of controls on jokulhlaup magnitude and frequency for this system. We find that Russell Glacier jokulhlaups have a much higher peak discharge than predicted by the Clague-Mathews relationship, which we attribute to an unusually short englacial/subglacial routeway and the presence of a thin ice dam that permits incomplete sealing of jokulhlaup conduits between lake drainage events. Additionally, we demonstrate that the passage of jokulhlaups through an interlinked system of proglacial bedrock basins produces significant attenuation of peak discharge downstream. We highlight that improved understanding of jokulhlaup dynamics requires accurate information about ice-dammed lake volume and ice-proximal jokulhlaup discharge.
Author(s): Williams M; Russell AJ; Carrivick JL; Ingeman-Nielsen T; Yde JC
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Journal of Glaciology
Year: 2011
Volume: 57
Issue: 202
Pages: 238-246
Print publication date: 01/04/2011
Date deposited: 18/06/2014
ISSN (print): 0022-1430
ISSN (electronic): 1727-5652
Publisher: International Glaciological Society
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3189/002214311796405997
DOI: 10.3189/002214311796405997
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