Linking ice sheet thinning and changing climate (Fresh-Link)

It is well known that the Greenland Ice Sheet is important to the global climate, the sea level and to ocean circulation. In this project, we will provide several independent estimates of the melting of the Ice Sheet in a local area of the fjord Godthåbsfjorden. (a) Ice mass balance studies (b) Field measurements of freshwater discharge and (c) Continuous ADCP and salinity measurements in the innermost part of the Godthåbsfjorden. Comparing the freshwater balance in the innermost part of the fjord with the measured or calculated freshwater discharge from ice and land represents a novel and independent opportunity to test/validate mathematical discharge models. Parallel investigations of past climatic variations in the Godthåbsfjorden from previously collected sediment cores will place the present ice melt in a historic perspective. A change in the existing circulation pattern will be of crucial importance to marine production in Greenlandic waters. Therefore, the project is closely linked to the program Ecogreen, in which changes in the marine ecosystems are being studied.