Title
Firn on ice sheets
Author
Amory, Charles (Université Grenoble Alpes)
Buizert, Christo (Oregon State University)
Buzzard, Sammie (Cardiff University; University of Northumbria)
Case, Elizabeth (Columbia University)
Clerx, Nicole (University of Fribourg)
Culberg, Riley (Cornell University)
Lhermitte, S.L.M. (TU Delft Mathematical Geodesy and Positioning; Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) 
de Roda Husman, S. (TU Delft Physical and Space Geodesy)
Wouters, B. (TU Delft Physical and Space Geodesy)
Date
2024
Abstract
Most of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are covered with firn — the transitional material between snow and glacial ice. Firn is vital for understanding ice-sheet mass balance and hydrology, and palaeoclimate. In this Review, we synthesize knowledge of firn, including its formation, observation, modelling and relevance to ice sheets. The refreezing of meltwater in the pore space of firn currently prevents 50% of meltwater in Greenland from running off into the ocean and protects Antarctic ice shelves from catastrophic collapse. Continued atmospheric warming could inhibit future protection against mass loss. For example, warming in Greenland has already contributed to a 5% reduction in firn pore space since 1980. All projections of future firn change suggest that surface meltwater will have an increasing impact on firn, with melt occurring tens to hundreds of kilometres further inland in Greenland, and more extensively on Antarctic ice shelves. Although progress in observation and modelling techniques has led to a well-established understanding of firn, the large uncertainties associated with meltwater percolation processes (refreezing, ice-layer formation and storage) must be reduced further. A tighter integration of modelling components (firn, atmosphere and ice-sheet models) will also be needed to better simulate ice-sheet responses to anthropogenic warming and to quantify future sea-level rise.
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http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:50eb4eb2-fbfc-4275-8398-3ba54d05c893
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-023-00507-9
Embargo date
2024-07-23
ISSN
2662-138X
Source
Nature Reviews Earth and Environment
Bibliographical note
Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.
Part of collection
Institutional Repository
Document type
review
Rights
© 2024 Charles Amory, Christo Buizert, Sammie Buzzard, Elizabeth Case, Nicole Clerx, Riley Culberg, S.L.M. Lhermitte, S. de Roda Husman, B. Wouters, More Authors