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Author Topic: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland  (Read 94959 times)

nukefix

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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #50 on: January 20, 2015, 12:03:03 PM »
With high-res S-1 a large collapse should be easily recognizable...if only I had time today...

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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #51 on: January 22, 2015, 11:13:34 AM »
S-1 19.1.2015 shows that Helheim has experienced a rather large calving event recently. The largest black capsized icebergs in front on the calving front are 700+ meters wide.

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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #52 on: January 22, 2015, 04:24:54 PM »
It seems like Helheim calved earlier than 10.1 as this EW-image shows that the big icebergs are already there. EW with its 40m pixel-size is clearly less useful for calving front mapping than the IW-mode...

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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #53 on: January 30, 2015, 09:07:56 PM »
I feel good! Spring is back!!!! ;)
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Tor Bejnar

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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #54 on: January 30, 2015, 09:19:45 PM »
Looks like you are mid-winter sleepwalking to me!  You call this Spring? :P
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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #55 on: January 30, 2015, 09:22:29 PM »
Looks like you are mid-winter sleepwalking to me!  You call this Spring? :P

When there is shades, there is sun, and that is spring!
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solartim27

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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #56 on: February 24, 2015, 07:02:52 PM »
Continues the trend of calving in winter.  Click to animate.
« Last Edit: February 24, 2015, 07:16:10 PM by solartim27 »
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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #57 on: February 24, 2015, 09:07:06 PM »
Some good articles on the area:
http://glacierresearch.com/locations/helheim/overview.html

Perhaps we'll beat the 2005 line this year?
Image from http://www.arcus.org/witness-the-arctic/2013/3/article/20209

And a post from werther on another thread:
Detail 3: Helheim glacier, southwest Greenland



One of the parts in southwest Greenland where the snow-/ice contour didn’t retreat much. Although the calving front on the Helheim Glacier is very mobile, there’s hardly a pixel-width difference between ’09 and ’12. In my opinion, the calving front is so close to the steep ‘bedrock’ slope into the mainland, that it can hardly retreat. Most of the floating tongue is already lost.
Nevertheless the feeding area keeps producing enough ice to let the glacier produce massive debris each year.
« Last Edit: February 24, 2015, 09:18:54 PM by solartim27 »
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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #58 on: February 25, 2015, 06:42:51 PM »
Seasonal dynamic thinning at Helheim Glacier.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012821X15000588

Highlights
•TanDEM-X DEMs are used to reveal seasonal thinning on Helheim Glacier.
•Feature tracking for surface speeds ties the thinning to areas of fast-moving ice.
•Bedrock GPS measurements are used to estimate an effective density for the ice loss.
•Annual water equivalent volume loss ranges from 0.5 km3 in 2011 to 1.6 km3 in 2013.
•We conclude that the thinning is dynamic and is driven by melt penetration to the bed.


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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #59 on: February 26, 2015, 11:00:41 PM »
The video link in the first post does not work anymore.  This is a great video of what these calvings look like from 12 July 2010 from Swansea University
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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #60 on: March 01, 2015, 10:06:16 PM »
Almost status quo, although a minor retreat is seen from October 2014:
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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #61 on: March 27, 2015, 10:18:12 PM »
Almost status quo, although a minor retreat is seen from October 2014:

I am not sure that the position of the calving front is as important as the discharge rate. 

I am curious about the motion of a large bergy bit labeled A in this admittedly poor gif (click to animate).  It seems to go a large distance, would that be from glacial outflow, tidal flushing, or some combination?  There also appears to be some continued small calving in the middle of the front.
« Last Edit: March 27, 2015, 11:24:08 PM by solartim27 »
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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fenrisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #62 on: March 27, 2015, 11:04:27 PM »
Fenrisgletscher.

Fenris is the Wolf of the Apocalypse in Norse Mythology  ;D
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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #63 on: March 28, 2015, 05:15:24 AM »
Unfortunately we have cut off Gleipnir.

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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #64 on: April 13, 2015, 08:36:03 PM »
Helheim Flythrough?



feel free to turn up or down the music, enjoy! :)

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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #65 on: April 27, 2015, 10:13:06 PM »
And here is some action from Helheim Gletscher:
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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #66 on: May 01, 2015, 05:14:07 PM »
Helheim is updated to 30 April.  Light on edge brings it into prominence. Also this:
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v497/n7448/full/nature12068.html

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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #67 on: May 01, 2015, 05:43:10 PM »
Helheim is updated to 30 April.

Which reminds me that Susan is referring to the Helheim webcam mentioned by Kris on the ASIB:
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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #68 on: May 02, 2015, 03:10:16 AM »
Good  God! Scroll through the photos of Helheim Glacier from March till today. This glacier is kicking off mountains of ice.

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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #69 on: May 02, 2015, 06:35:10 AM »
Good  God! Scroll through the photos of Helheim Glacier from March till today. This glacier is kicking off mountains of ice.
Get a hold of yourself man!  The calving front is relatively stationary so everything is fine! 
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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #70 on: May 02, 2015, 11:52:23 AM »
Good  God! Scroll through the photos of Helheim Glacier from March till today. This glacier is kicking off mountains of ice.
Get a hold of yourself man!  The calving front is relatively stationary so everything is fine!

? It may be necessary to move the camera?
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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #71 on: May 03, 2015, 10:07:45 PM »
Helheim between April 30 and May 3 2015 another big chunk took off:
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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #72 on: May 05, 2015, 05:37:58 PM »
Here is the calving mentioned in the above web-cam animation seen from a LandSat perspective:
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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #73 on: May 09, 2015, 06:48:21 AM »
Nothing to see here, please move along.  Everything is fine.

Http://ocean.dmi.dk/arctic/image_container.puppup

Edit:  Looked like a big change, but that link doesn't come up right, and I can't get onto the site right now to post a screen shot.
« Last Edit: May 09, 2015, 09:28:52 AM by solartim27 »
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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #74 on: May 09, 2015, 10:00:13 AM »
I can't get onto the site right now to post a screen shot.

Neither can I. DMI seems to be down?

When it returns, linking to the "image_container" never works. You have to grab a copy of (or link to) the image itself.
"The most revolutionary thing one can do always is to proclaim loudly what is happening" - Rosa Luxemburg

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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #75 on: May 09, 2015, 05:07:16 PM »
This image says it's from 7 May, but I can't find it in the Polar View images, or any since then.  It's from DMI, so resolution isn't that great.

Edit:  Glacier Research finally updated, with no major changes
http://glacierresearch.com/locations/helheim/realtime-images-terminus.html
« Last Edit: May 09, 2015, 07:17:33 PM by solartim27 »
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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #76 on: May 17, 2015, 10:45:56 AM »
Helheim Gletscher at work:
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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #77 on: May 31, 2015, 10:30:57 AM »
Some more calving activities at Helheim between May 27 and May 30 2015:
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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #78 on: June 10, 2015, 07:29:28 PM »
Helheim update, snow retreat and glacier gain:
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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #79 on: June 11, 2015, 04:31:15 PM »
The youtube link is broken in post #1 of this forum, Helheim Glacier calving by Hans Henrik Tholstrup. The link is now http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BJNOvB5QKU.#

I came across a 2001-2005 time series that was interpreted as a retreat progression
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=6207&eocn=image&eoci=related_image

Howat, I. M., I. Joughin, S. Tulaczyk, and S. Gogineni (2005). Rapid retreat and acceleration of Helheim Glacier, east Greenland. Geophysical Research Letters, 32, L22502,
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2005GL024737/full (free full text)

A significant amount of the measured coastal thinning of the Greenland ice sheet may be due to recent acceleration of outlet glaciers. Using remote sensing, we measured two major periods of speedup on Helheim Glacier between 2000 and 2005 that increased peak speeds from approximately 8 to 11 km/yr. These speedups coincided with rapid retreats of the calving front, totaling over 7.5 km. The glacier also thinned by over 40 m from 2001 to 2003. Retreat of the ice front appears to decrease resistance to flow and concentrates the gravitational driving force over a smaller area. Farther up-glacier, acceleration may be a delayed response to surface draw-down and steepening of the glacier's main trunk. If the 2005 speedup also produces strong thinning, then much of the glacier's main trunk may un-ground, leading to further retreat.

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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #80 on: June 26, 2015, 05:47:49 PM »
Reverse glacier motion during iceberg calving and the cause of glacial earthquakes

Abstract:
Quote
Nearly half of Greenland’s mass loss occurs through iceberg calving, but the physical mechanisms operating during calving are poorly known and in situ observations are sparse. We show that calving at Greenland’s Helheim Glacier causes a minutes-long reversal of the glacier’s horizontal flow and a downward deflection of its terminus. The reverse motion results from the horizontal force caused by iceberg capsize and acceleration away from the glacier front. The downward motion results from a hydrodynamic pressure drop behind the capsizing berg, which also causes an upward force on the solid Earth. These forces are the source of glacial earthquakes, globally detectable seismic events whose proper interpretation will allow remote sensing of calving processes occurring at increasing numbers of outlet glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica.

(cross posted at 'Earthquakes')
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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #81 on: June 27, 2015, 09:35:19 PM »
On the move, these 2 images are 24 hours apart June 26 and June 27 2015 :
« Last Edit: June 27, 2015, 09:45:40 PM by Espen »
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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #82 on: July 05, 2015, 05:47:35 PM »
Helheim in growth mode, between June 6 and July 6 2015, notice the disappearance of snow on the rocks:
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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #83 on: July 08, 2015, 06:01:28 PM »
A large piece of ice took off between July 7 and July 8 2015:
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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #84 on: July 16, 2015, 07:31:54 PM »
A large calving at Helheim Gletscher between July 14 and July 17 2015:
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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #85 on: July 16, 2015, 09:37:16 PM »
On the near side, a little more retreat than where it was on May 3, 2015.  (See above for images.) [I'm just not looking at the far side.]  Someone spoke my mind in May about the camera needing to be shifted 'soon'; then the glacier face advanced for a while.
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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #86 on: July 16, 2015, 10:24:26 PM »
The above mentioned calving can be watched from above with the newly released Landsat images:
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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #87 on: July 16, 2015, 10:56:49 PM »
There are some strange color changes on the glacier, sort of looks like melt ponds draining.  Any thoughts?
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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #88 on: August 25, 2015, 08:35:24 PM »
Helheim had another big calving between 8/22 - 23, the terminus camera has not updated.
http://www.glacierresearch.com/locations/helheim/realtime-images-terminus.html
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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #89 on: August 26, 2015, 11:15:28 AM »
Here is S-1 IW HH from 23.8.2015 in WGS84 Polar Stereographic in 15m pixel size.

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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #90 on: August 26, 2015, 03:14:15 PM »
The same in UTM24 15m

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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #91 on: September 05, 2015, 07:01:10 AM »
Here's the view from the terminus camera, 8-21 - 8/29
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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #92 on: October 04, 2015, 09:33:45 PM »
Both Helheim Gletscher and Fernisgletscher are ending 2015 at record lows (retreat), I will add more documentation in the next few days (been in Sweden picking mushrooms for 2 days):

Please click on image to enlarge!
« Last Edit: October 04, 2015, 09:42:57 PM by Espen »
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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #93 on: October 05, 2015, 09:02:14 PM »
Here is a large animation showing how Helheim (to the left) Fernisgletscher (in the middle) and Midgårdgletscher (to the right) behaved in the period of 1972 to 2015.
Not only did all 3 glaciers retreat in the period, some more than others, especially Midgårdgletscher went way up the valley. All 3 glaciers are now at record retreat position.:

Please click on image to animate and enlarge!
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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #94 on: October 06, 2015, 12:55:43 AM »
Here is a large animation showing how Helheim (to the left) Fernisgletscher (in the middle) and Midgårdgletscher (to the right) behaved in the period of 1972 to 2015.
Not only did all 3 glaciers retreat in the period, some more than others, especially Midgårdgletscher went way up the valley. All 3 glaciers are now at record retreat position.:

Please click on image to animate and enlarge!

Thanks for this wonderful animation.
Interesting that the period 1986-1997 saw less retreat (or even advance) compared to the other periods.
The "Midgard" glacier has literally gone around the bend in the last period 1997-2014. Impressive.

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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #95 on: October 21, 2015, 09:49:49 PM »
I was a bit too early on Oct. 4 2015 claiming that this was the end of the season for Helheim, but now Helheim calves and retreat to another record low:

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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #96 on: October 23, 2015, 09:20:34 PM »
I revised the Helheim Gletscher year end report because for some reason Helheim decided to calve and retreat to a new record low:

Click on image to enlarge and animate!
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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #97 on: November 14, 2015, 10:06:04 PM »
Helheim Gletscher November 2015, changing mode, opposite what is normal during winter stays at record low, retreat wise, and is prone for further calving and retreat:

(Would not like doing cross country on that surface)
« Last Edit: November 14, 2015, 10:48:41 PM by Espen »
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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #98 on: December 20, 2015, 10:22:30 AM »
Helheim update, and not part of the Melville debacle, is still moving despite the winter darkness:
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Re: Helheim Gletscher / Fernisgletscher / South East Greenland
« Reply #99 on: March 02, 2016, 03:38:12 PM »
The Helheim webcam is back on line: