Importance of solid earth structure for understanding the evolution of the Greenland Ice Sheet

Ebbing, Jörg, Hopper, John R., Conrad, Clinton P., Milne, Glenn, Steffen, Rebekka, Afonso, Juan Carlos, Barletta, Valentina R., Ferreira, Ana M. G., Freienstein, Judith, Hansen, Samantha E., Heincke, Björn H., Jones, Glenn, Lebedev, Sergei, Moorkamp, Max, Schutt, Derek L. and Wansing, Agnes 2025. Importance of solid earth structure for understanding the evolution of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Journal of the Geological Society 10.1144/jgs2024-291

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Abstract

The solid earth structure beneath Greenland, meaning the rocky part of Earth from the ice-bed interface to depth, has gained increased interest in recent years as it provides a critical boundary condition for the dynamic evolution of the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS), one of the largest sources of sea-level rise contributions since the early 2000s. However, no consensus has been reached regarding the key internal or surface earth properties influencing this boundary condition and thus GrIS behaviour. One important surface property is the subglacial heat flow, which affects sliding conditions of the ice sheet including the onset of major ice streams and is related to subglacial geology. Lithospheric architecture and mantle viscosity structure are internal properties that influence ice sheet evolution through changes in the height and slope of the ice-bed interface caused by glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA). Because there is no general agreement regarding crustal and lithospheric structures, some glaciological studies use an ensemble of solid earth models to incorporate uncertainties into their GrIS predictions, but it is unclear how these variations ultimately affect estimates of future sea-level rise. Here we describe the main solid earth properties that are important for GrIS evolution (heat flow, temperature, viscosity), from the base of the ice sheet to the upper mantle, and we provide some perspectives on how future collaborative efforts and integrated studies could lead to better agreement regarding these key characteristics.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > Earth and Environmental Sciences
Additional Information:	License information from Publisher: LICENSE 1: URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, Start Date: 2025-04-18
Publisher:	The Geological Society
ISSN:	0016-7649
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	9 May 2025
Date of Acceptance:	9 April 2025
Last Modified:	09 May 2025 11:00
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/178187

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