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We use digital elevation models (DEMs) and ICESat‐2 data to study the filling and outflow from a large subglacial lake under Manson Icefield in the Canadian Arctic. When full, the lake is ∼17 × 3 km with an area of 52 km2. Early in 2021 the ice surface over the center of the lake sank by >140 m implying a subglacial outburst flood of ∼4 km3. Rapid outflow occurred over ∼30 days at an average rate of ∼1,500 m3s−1 resulting in the formation of a single ∼15 km subglacial outflow path detectable from post‐outflow surface depression. The shape of the surface depression, 600–800 m wide by 2–4 m deep, reflects the shape of the subglacial channel prior to closure. Downstream ice movement appears unaffected by the outflow. After outflow ends the surface depression persisted over weeks, apparently dependent on the difference between water and overburden pressures. Plain Language Summary: Using satellite observations, we discovered a large lake under the Manson Icefield in the Canadian Arctic. Early in 2021 the ice surface over the center of the lake sank by around 140 m implying a total subglacial water outflow of around 4 km3, the largest reported outside of Iceland and Antarctica. Most of this water drained from the subglacial lake within 30 days melting some of the ice along the outflow path. For the first time we map the position and size of the subglacial output channel between the downstream end of the lake and the ocean using post‐outflow surface depression as the ice sank downward to close the channel after the water outflow. These results help in understanding the ways in which the presence, movement, and volume of water beneath glaciers influence ice movement and climate related glacial ice loss. Key Points: Using satellite height change data we document the discovery of a 52 km2 subglacial lake under the Manson Icefield, Nunavut, CanadaThe lake filled for around 14 years until early 2021 when the level in the center of the lake dropped by 130 m over 30 daysThe outflow volume was around 4 cubic kilometers and created a wide and shallow subglacial channel that could be tracked for over 15 km [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Greenland, 87% of the glacierized area terminates in the ocean, but mass lost at the ice‐ocean interface, or frontal ablation, has not yet been fully quantified. Using measurements and models we calculate frontal ablation of Greenland's 213 outlet and 537 peripheral glaciers and find a total frontal ablation of 481.8 ± 24.0 for 2000–2010 and 510.2 ± 18.6 Gt a−1 for 2010–2020. Ice discharge accounted for ∼90% of frontal ablation during both periods, while mass loss due to terminus retreat comprised the remainder. Only 16 glaciers were responsible for the majority (>50%) of frontal ablation from 2010 to 2020. These estimates, along with the climatic‐basal balance, allow for a more complete accounting of Greenland Ice Sheet and peripheral glacier mass balance. In total, Greenland accounted for ∼90% of Northern Hemisphere frontal ablation for 2000–2010 and 2010–2020. Plain Language Summary: We estimate the mass of ice lost from all Greenland glaciers that entered the ocean during each of the last two decades. This ice loss at the front of these marine‐terminating glaciers is called frontal ablation and is approximately equal to the mass of icebergs entering the ocean. Frontal ablation is important because 87% of glacier area in Greenland ends in the ocean, through 750 outlets, and previous work has only approximated frontal ablation. This study quantifies it for the first time, helping to close the mass budget for the Greenland Ice Sheet and better partition its mass balance into components. We find that Greenland accounts for ∼90% of all Northern Hemisphere frontal ablation and, of that contribution, just 17 glaciers for 2000–2010 and 16 glaciers for 2010–2020 account for more than half of total Greenland frontal ablation. Key Points: Frontal ablation of the Greenland Ice Sheet averaged 510.2 ± 18.6 Gt a−1 for 2010–2020, ∼90% of which came from ice dischargeThe frontal ablation we measured is larger than the total mass loss from the ice sheet, indicating a positive climatic‐basal balanceOnly 16 glaciers account for 50% of the total frontal ablation from the Greenland Ice Sheet [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge of frontal ablation from marine-terminating glaciers (i.e., mass lost at the calving face) is critical for constraining glacier mass balance, improving projections of mass change, and identifying the processes that govern frontal mass loss. Here, we discuss the challenges involved in computing frontal ablation and the unique issues pertaining to both glaciers and ice sheets. Frontal ablation estimates require numerous datasets, including glacier terminus area change, thickness, surface velocity, density, and climatic mass balance. Observations and models of these variables have improved over the past decade, but significant gaps and regional discrepancies remain, and better quantification of temporal variability in frontal ablation is needed. Despite major advances in satellite-derived large-scale datasets, large uncertainties remain with respect to ice thickness, depth-averaged velocities, and the bulk density of glacier ice close to calving termini or grounding lines. We suggest ways in which we can move toward globally complete frontal ablation estimates, highlighting areas where we need improved datasets and increased collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using historical and recent aerial photography and structure from motion (SfM) multiview stereo (MVS) techniques, we reconstruct the 1959 and 2018 ice surface topography and determine the geodetic mass balance of Bowman Glacier, a small mountain glacier on northern Ellesmere Island. This is combined with optical satellite imagery to reconstruct the evolution in extent of the glacier over six decades, and ground-penetrating radar measurements of ice thickness to estimate the remaining ice volume. Between 1959 and 2020, Bowman Glacier lost 78% of its extent (reducing from 2.75 to 0.61 km2), while average annual area loss rates have nearly tripled in the past two decades. Over the 1959–2018 period, glacier-wide ice-thickness change averaged −22.7 ± 4.7 m, corresponding to a mean specific annual mass balance of −347.0 ± 71.4 mm w.e. a−1. Projecting rates of area and volume change into the future indicates that the glacier will likely entirely disappear between 2030 and 2060. This study demonstrates the potential of SfM-MVS processing to generate elevation products from 1950/60s historical aerial photographs, and to extend observations of ice elevation and glacier volume change for the Canadian Arctic, prior to the satellite record. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Links between proglacial lakes and glacier dynamics are poorly understood but are necessary to predict how mountain glaciers will react to a warmer, wetter climate, where such lakes are expected to increase both in number and volume. Here, we examine a long-term (~120 year) record of terminus retreat, thinning and surface velocities from in-situ and remote sensing observations at the terminus of Kaskawulsh Glacier, Yukon, Canada, and determine the impact of a local proglacial hydrological reorganisation on glacier dynamics. After an initial deceleration during the late 1990s, terminus velocities increased at a rate of 3 m a−2 from 2000–12, while proglacial Slims Lake area increased simultaneously. The rapid drainage of the lake in May 2016 substantially altered the velocity profile, decreasing annual velocities by 48% within 3 km of the terminus between 2015 and 2021, at an average rate of ~ 12.5 m a−2. A key cause of the rapid drop in glacier motion was a reduction in flotation of the lower part of the glacier terminus after lake drainage. This has important implications for glacier dynamics and provides one of the first assessments of the impacts of a rapid proglacial lake drainage event on local terminus velocities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supraglacial drainage networks play an integral role in both glacier dynamics and run-off timing, and mapping them provides insight into their role in glacial systems. Here we present a reproducible approach for semi-automated mapping of supraglacial hydrologic features, which complements existing work in automated and manual mapping by providing clear definitions for identification of features. This framework uses a digital terrain model (DTM) to identify potential flow routes on the glacier surface, which are then classified using a set of standardized rules based on the DTM and an orthomosaic. We found that the normalized difference water index calculated from digital imagery was influenced by image brightness and introduce a new approach using average RGB values to correct for this. Using this framework we mapped supraglacial drainage networks at Nàłùdäy and Thores Glacier, Canada. The framework was easier to implement with high-resolution (0.5 m) imagery and DTMs, compared to data with lower resolution (10 m), due to the increased detail in topography and feature boundaries at high-resolution. Lower-resolution data captured larger streams (>2 pixels wide), however, indicating that the framework can still be used at this resolution. Mapping supraglacial hydrology using standardized methods opens possibilities for investigating many questions relating to changes in supraglacial hydrology over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glacier velocity measurements are essential to understand ice flow mechanics, monitor natural hazards, and make accurate projections of future sea-level rise. Despite these important applications, the method most commonly used to derive glacier velocity maps, feature tracking, relies on empirical parameter choices that rarely account for glacier physics or uncertainty. Here we test two statistics- and physics-based metrics to assess velocity maps from a range of existing feature-tracking workflows at Kaskawulsh Glacier, Canada. Based on inter-comparisons with ground-truth data, velocity maps with metrics falling within our recommended ranges contain fewer erroneous measurements and more spatially correlated noise than velocity maps with metrics that deviate from those ranges. Thus, these metric ranges are suitable for refining feature-tracking workflows and evaluating the resulting velocity products. We have released an open-source software package for computing and visualizing these metrics, the GLAcier Feature Tracking testkit (GLAFT). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The physical, sedimentological, mineralogical and elemental geochemical properties of sediment cores AMD1803‐02BC and 01PC from the Cape Norton Shaw Inlet were investigated to reconstruct glacial sediment discharges from southeastern Manson Icefield and document the impact of ice–ocean interactions on the sediment dynamics and opening of the North Water Polynya (NOW) in northwestern Baffin Bay since the last deglaciation. Laminated glaciomarine sediments rich in quartz and feldspar are observed prior to 11 cal. ka BP and were probably deposited by hyperpycnal currents triggered by the local retreat of the southern margin of the Innuitian Ice. Detrital proxies suggest that Early Holocene sediment dynamics were mainly influenced by sea ice and iceberg rafting and meltwater discharges related to the deglaciation of eastern Smith (~11 to 10.65 cal. ka BP) and Jones (~10.7 cal. ka BP) sounds. This also provides an upper limit to the timing of formation of the NOW. The high detrital carbonate contents during 8.8 to 6.6 cal. ka BP confirm that enhanced carbonate‐rich sediment export from Nares Strait to northern Baffin Bay occurred during and after the deglaciation of Kennedy Channel (8.8 to 8.2 cal. ka BP). Canadian Shield sediment inputs have dominated since 6.6 cal. ka BP, indicating that sedimentation is mainly influenced by Cape Norton Shaw glacier discharges. The lower level of sedimentation recorded in core 01PC during the Middle to Late Holocene suggests an accelerated landward retreat of the Cape Norton Shaw glaciers in response to warmer marine conditions. During the Neoglacial period, higher sedimentation rates and detrital proxies in the cores suggest increased glacial erosional processes, probably associated with the long‐term declines in boreal summer insolation and glacier growth. Finally, mineralogical and grain‐size data in core 02BC support the idea that increased Arctic atmospheric temperatures have had an important influence on the glacial dynamics during the industrial period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]