Investigating Greenland's glaciers

Abstract

Investigations of Greenland's glaciers undertaken by GGU are primarily related to the exploitation of meltwater from the Inland lce and local glaciers in western Greenland, i.e. they are essentially related to glacier hydrology (Olesen & Braithwaite, 1989). The studies are therefore based on mass balance data combined with investigations of superglacial melt/refreezing and the determination of the internal mode of drainage. Related to this work is the documentation of short-term glacier changes at specific localities identified as being of special interest for hydropower from the point of view of glacier hazards, i.e. for example damage caused by tapping of ice dammed lakes or change of proglacial draining caused by change in the glacier's thickness and extent. Similar documentation of long-term glacier fluctuations provides a background for control and modelling of past glacier fluctuations. The procedures have a direct bearing on the calculation of scenarios for future events related to the individual localities or, in a regional sense, to the impact of changes in Greenland glaciers on global sea level (the 'greenhouse effect’).