Multi-decadal retreat of marine-terminating outlet glaciers in northwest and central-west Greenland

Abstract

The retreat and acceleration of marine-terminating outlet glaciers in Greenland over the past 2 decades have been widely attributed to climate change. Here we present a comprehensive annual record of glacier terminus positions in northwest and central-west Greenland and compare it against local and regional climatology to assess the regional sensitivity of glacier termini to different climatic factors. This record is derived from optical and radar satellite imagery and spans 87 marine-terminating outlet glaciers from 1972 through 2021. We find that in this region, most glaciers have retreated over the observation period and widespread regional retreat accelerated from around 1996. The acceleration of glacier retreat coincides with the timing of sharp shifts in ocean surface temperatures, the duration of the sea-ice season, ice-sheet surface mass balance, and meltwater and runoff production. Regression analysis indicates that terminus retreat is most sensitive to increases in runoff and ocean temperatures, while the effect of offshore sea ice is weak. Because runoff and ocean temperatures can influence terminus positions through several mechanisms, our findings suggest that a variety of processes – such as ocean-interface melting, mélange presence and rigidity, and hydrofracture-induced calving – may contribute to, but do not conclusively dominate, the observed regional retreat.