- Jakobshavn Isbræ
Jakobshavn Isbræ, also known as the Jakobshavn Glacier and Sermeq Kujalleq (in Greenlandic) is a large
outlet glacier in WestGreenland . It is located next to the Greenlandic town ofIlulissat (Danish: Jakobshavn) at the Ilulissat Icefjord, approximately at coord|69|10|N|49|50|W|type:glacier.Jakobshavn Isbræ is a major contributor to the mass balance of the
Greenland ice sheet , producing some 10% of all Greenlandiceberg s. Some 35 billion tonnes of icebergs calve off and pass out of thefjord every year. Icebergs breaking from theglacier are often so large (up to a kilometer in height) that they are too tall to float down the fjord and lie stuck on the bottom of its shallower areas, sometimes for years, until they are broken up by the force of the glacier and icebergs further up the fjord. Studied for over 250 years, Jakobshavn Isbræ has helped develop our understanding ofclimate change and icecapglaciology .It is also one of the fastest moving glaciers, flowing at its terminus at speeds of 20 to 22 metres per day. The rate has accelerated in recent years, probably due to
global warming . The ice stream's speed-up and near-doubling of ice flow from land into the ocean has increased the rate ofsea level rise by about .06 millimeters (about .002 inches) per year, or roughly 4 percent of the 20th century rate of sea level rise [http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/lookingatearth/jakobshavn.html] .ee also
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Retreat of glaciers since 1850
*Glacial motion
*Glacier mass balance
*List of glaciers External links
* [http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/lookingatearth/jakobshavn.html Fastest Glacier in Greenland Doubles Speed] Article from NASA.
* [http://www.geus.dk/publications/bull/nr4/nr4_p85-88-uk.htm Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland] Jakobshavn Isbræ,West Greenland: the 2002-2003 collapse and nomination for the UNESCO World Heritage List. Review of Survey activities 2003, issue 4, pp. 85-88.
* [http://www.geus.dk/publications/boeger/ilulissat-uk.htmhttp://www.geus.dk/publications/boeger/ilulissat-uk.htm Ilulissat Icefjord] . Book edited by Ole Bennike, Naja Mikkelsen, Henrik Klinge Pedersen and Anker Weidick, Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, 28th September, 2004, ISBN 87-7871-136-3
* [http://rcswww.urz.tu-dresden.de/~isprs/proceedings/paper/MAAS_606.pdf 2004 velocity measurements incl. tidal effects] Article from Dresden University of Technology.
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