When the glacier ice melts can the water accumulate in topographic depressions to form supraglacial lakes. These evolve during the melting seasons and can be seen clearly by satellite image on the northeastern part of Greenland. These lakes are known to rapidly drain through fracture propagation. The problem arises when the water is transported down and along the bedrock, which can contribute to glacial uplift and ice-sheet acceleration. The glacier ice which floats on water is displaced further out where calving occur which results in rising sea levels. In this independent project, drainage patterns are analyzed to investigate the impact and relationship between lakes that fractures and drains. Satellite images was studied by comparing the number of lakes during a melting period in different time intervals. Images was processed with different analysis tools in ArcMap 10.7.1 in order to create maps of drained lakes. The results display a connection between where and when lakes disappear. Two clear examples are observed where nearby lakes are completely drained over one day, which strengthens the evidence of impact. Knowledge of the hydrological processes of earth’s glaciers is of outmost importance in order to predict and prepare for the consequences of global warming. The results of this project contribute to an increased understanding of lake drainage relationship and can be applied in further research.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-448597 |
| Date | January 2021 |
| Creators | Granberg, Maja |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för geovetenskaper |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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