Sponsor
The risky deployment of moorings at the terminus was funded through a grant by the National Geographic Society (CP4-171R-17). We especially thank Paul Devine and Teledyne RD Instruments for their loan of a Sentinel V ADCP, knowing the deployment was risky and loss was possible. The ship time and all associated equipment, development, and analysis was funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs (Grants 1503910, 1504191, 1504288, 1504521), and the Office of Naval Research (Grants N00014-14-1-0490 and N0001417-1-2864). M. Shaya was initially supported through the Oregon State University College of Earth Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences NSF-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates in 2019 (OCE-1758000). This work was also partially supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation Center for Oldest Ice Exploration (NSF COLDEX), an NSF Science and Technology Center (NSF 2019719).
Published In
Geophysical Research Letters
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-13-2025
Subjects
Glaciers -- Climatic factors
Abstract
Calving icebergs at tidewater glaciers release large amounts of potential energy. This energy—in principle—could be a source for submarine melting, which scales with near‐terminus water temperature and velocity. Because near‐terminus currents are challenging to observe or predict, submarine melt remains a key uncertainty in projecting tidewater glacier retreat and sea level rise. Here, we study one submarine calving event at Xeitl Sít’ (LeConte Glacier), Alaska, to explore the effect of calving on ice melt, using a suite of autonomously deployed instruments beneath, around, and downstream of the calving iceberg. Our measurements captured flows exceeding 5 m/s and demonstrate how potential energy converts to kinetic energy EK. While most energy decays quickly (through turbulence, mixing, and radiated waves), near‐terminus EK remains elevated, nearly doubling predicted melt rates for hours after the event. Calving‐induced currents could thus be an important overlooked energy source for submarine melt and glacier retreat.
Rights
Copyright (c) 2025 The Authors Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Locate the Document
DOI
10.1029/2025GL117900
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/44173
Citation Details
Shaya, M. F., Nash, J. D., Pettit, E. C., Amundson, J. M., Jackson, R. H., Sutherland, D. A., & Winters, D. (2025). Calving as a Source of Acute and Persistent Kinetic Energy to Enhance Submarine Melting of Tidewater Glaciers. Geophysical Research Letters, 52(19). Portico. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025gl117900