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Author Topic: Scoresbysund / Ittoqqortoormiit / East Greenland  (Read 4540 times)

Espen

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Scoresbysund / Ittoqqortoormiit / East Greenland
« on: March 02, 2014, 10:56:33 AM »
Sea ice break up in progress, light ice is seen in the fjord:

Have a ice day!


budmantis

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Re: Scoresbysund / Ittoqqortoormiit / East Greenland
« Reply #2 on: March 05, 2017, 06:44:36 AM »
A bit earlier than usual?

bairgon

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Re: Scoresbysund / Ittoqqortoormiit / East Greenland
« Reply #3 on: March 05, 2017, 07:12:32 AM »
Going back a year on the link shows that it was further advanced in 2016. The limit of daytime images is Feb 9th - https://worldview.earthdata.nasa.gov/?p=arctic&l=VIIRS_SNPP_CorrectedReflectance_TrueColor(hidden),MODIS_Aqua_CorrectedReflectance_TrueColor,MODIS_Terra_CorrectedReflectance_TrueColor(hidden),Reference_Labels(hidden),Reference_Features(hidden),Coastlines&t=2016-02-09&z=3&v=346070.42926684907,-2241817.7462289836,1329110.429266849,-1737497.7462289834&ab=off&as=2017-02-27&ae=2017-03-04&av=2&al=true . Nighttime infrared shows action back into Janurary but there are many images with clouds.

2015 was slightly later - March 4th.

2014 was much further advanced at this stage (as per the first posting)

2013 was about the same as 2017 on March 18. The images appear to be out of registration - see https://worldview.earthdata.nasa.gov/?p=arctic&l=VIIRS_SNPP_CorrectedReflectance_TrueColor(hidden),MODIS_Aqua_CorrectedReflectance_TrueColor(hidden),MODIS_Terra_CorrectedReflectance_TrueColor,Coastlines(hidden)&t=2013-03-18&z=3&v=-1119366.8878650272,-2233228.8104030616,-573502.925571783,-1740318.8778946784&r=-36.0000&ab=off&as=2017-02-27&ae=2017-03-04&av=2&al=true

In 2012 the images start on 9th May and show an area melted out, but strong ice holding in the sound - https://worldview.earthdata.nasa.gov/?p=arctic&l=VIIRS_SNPP_CorrectedReflectance_TrueColor,MODIS_Aqua_CorrectedReflectance_TrueColor,MODIS_Terra_CorrectedReflectance_TrueColor,Coastlines(hidden)&t=2012-05-09&z=3&v=-1119366.8878650272,-2233228.8104030616,-573502.925571783,-1740318.8778946784&r=-36.0000&ab=off&as=2017-02-27&ae=2017-03-04&av=2&al=true

gerontocrat

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Re: Scoresbysund / Ittoqqortoormiit / East Greenland
« Reply #4 on: August 26, 2021, 11:13:13 PM »
While wandering around the internet looking for stuff about icebergs from East Greenland I stumbled upon Scoresby Sund - and there is a thread for it last posted in March 2017.

The Scoresby Sund ( Kangertittivaq ) in East Greenland is the largest fjord in the world.
Not a lot of people know that

Quote
About 18 km3 yr−1 of icebergs are calved into the Scoresby Sund fjord system, East Greenland. These icebergs have submarine keels with drafts up to 550 m.***

I guess even less people know that

Quote
Modern iceberg contacts with the sea floor are inferred from calculated keel depths and stationary icebergs identified on sequential Landsat imagery. Acoustic profiles (Parasound, 3.5 kHz) of the sea floor show that scouring is a significant process in water depths < 550 m. Iceberg scouring intensity varies inversely with water depth. The most intense scouring occurs at depths of < 300–400 m. Iceberg scours were observed on over 25,000 km2 of the East Greenland shelf, at 69–72°N and 75°N. Scours are being actively produced on the modern shelf, but relict scours probably dating back to the Late Weichselian are also present. The rate of iceberg production from Greenland Ice Sheet outlet glaciers, and iceberg drift tracks on the shelf, suggests that iceberg scouring is important over a significant proportion of the 500,000 km2 area above the shelf break around Greenland. ***

*** quotes from "Iceberg scouring in Scoresby Sund and on the East Greenland continental shelf"
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/002532279390187Z

The East Greenland Current flows south along Greenland’s east coast, transporting large fields of ice, and then turns north as the West Greenland current. My understanding is that East Greenland's icebergs are caught by this northbound West Greenland current, travel North when not ice bound eventually to the top of Baffin Bay and then released in Spring down the Labrador current as part of the bergs in Iceberg Alley, to end life as a tourist attraction in Newfoundland and elsewhere.

The image below seems to show a large number of bergs in the sund.
"Para a Causa do Povo a Luta Continua!"
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Espen

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Re: Scoresbysund / Ittoqqortoormiit / East Greenland
« Reply #5 on: August 26, 2021, 11:59:14 PM »
Yes many icebergs are produced today and will be in the future from the very north to the very south of East Greenland, but the size of them are much smaller than they used to be, and remember they are always larger below (90%) the surface than above (10%).

And a keel of 500 meter is not unusual, that is why they often get "stranded" in the middle of the sea.

But the size of them area wise is a different story, very few icebergs above 10 km2 are being produced on the East Coast of Greenland, if any? (Yes I know there a 2 large calves from Spaltegletscher but they will not enter open water untill their size is reduced the fjord is too narrow for them to pass and there is a small island stopping them too) The iceberg now seen on its way out of the Zachariae Isstrøm system (42 km2) is an old bull not a calf anymore, it has been sitting in Jøkelbugt for years, the largest calves from Zachariae Isstrøm today is no more than max. 15 - 20 km2, the only glacier left in Greenland producing calves above 20 - 30 km2is Petermann Gletscher but they are usually 160 - 200 km2

Yes I knew it the largest fjord system in the world:

https://forum.arctic-sea-ice.net/index.php/topic,897.msg69197.html#msg69197
« Last Edit: August 27, 2021, 12:20:45 AM by Espen »
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gerontocrat

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Re: Scoresbysund / Ittoqqortoormiit / East Greenland
« Reply #6 on: August 27, 2021, 12:15:14 AM »
Not a surprise to find that you, Espen, knew all about Scoresby Sund- your knowledge is obviously profound.

But my knowledge is very superficial, as may be the case for many of those like me who follow your posts.
"Para a Causa do Povo a Luta Continua!"
"And that's all I'm going to say about that". Forrest Gump
"Damn, I wanted to see what happened next" (Epitaph)