Prof. Jianli CHEN, Core Member of the RILS and Professor in the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics, and an international group of researchers published a study in Nature that unveils a substantial amount of meltwater being temporarily stored within the Greenland ice sheet during summer.
The study was led by Dr Jiangjun RAN, Associate Professor at the Southern University of Science and Technology. For the first time, the team quantified meltwater storage using positioning data. The researchers employed data from the Greenland GPS Network (GNET), a network comprising dozens of stations in Greenland, to continuously monitor the vertical displacements of bedrock at different stages of the melt season. The mass of meltwater is a factor that causes the bedrock to shift downwards. The team developed an innovative method for explaining the detected vertical shifts based on the meltwater mass.
The Greenland ice sheet is currently the largest contributor to global sea level rise. If it completely melts, it can potentially raise the mean sea level by seven meters. The study provides a new perspective on the movement and storage of meltwater within the ice sheet during the summer months, bringing important discoveries for addressing pressing environmental challenges on Earth.
Read more: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08096-3
| Research Units | Research Institute for Land and Space |
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