Subglacial topography and geothermal heat flux: Potential interactions with drainage of the Greenland ice sheet

作者：C. J. van der Veen, T. E. Leftwich, Ralph von Frese, B. M. Csathó, J. Li · 发表于：Geophysical Research Letters · 年份：2007 · DOI：10.1029/2007gl030046 · 被引用次数：49 · 研究领域：Cryospheric studies and observations、Geology and Paleoclimatology Research、Landslides and related hazards

Many of the outlet glaciers in Greenland overlie deep and narrow trenches cut into the bedrock. It is well known that pronounced topography intensifies the geothermal heat flux in deep valleys and attenuates this flux on mountains. Here we investigate the magnitude of this effect for two subglacial trenches in Greenland. Heat flux variations are estimated for idealized geometries using solutions for plane slopes derived by Lachenbruch (1968). It is found that for channels such as the one under Jakobshavn Isbræ, topographic effects may increase the local geothermal heat flux by as much as 100%.