Cool Migration

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    Greenland Ice Flow

    July 1st, 2012

    This animation shows how ice is naturally transported from interior topographic divides to the coast via glaciers. The colors represent the speed of ice flow, with areas in red and purple flowing the fastest at rates of kilometers per year. The vectors indicate the direction of flow. This video is also available on our YouTube channel. A high resolution still image showing the velocity flow over Greenland. A high resolution still image showing the velocity flow over the Nioghalvfjerdsbrae Glacier, also known as "79 N Glacier", in Greenland. A high resolution still image showing the velocity flow on the west coast of Greenland. Ice Flow Colortable in a logarithmic scale Greenland looks like a big pile of snow seen from space using a regular camera. But satellite radar interferometry helps us detect the motion of ice beneath the snow. Ice starts flowing from the flanks of topographic divides in the interior of the island, and increases in speed toward the coastline where it is channelized along a set of narrow, powerful outlet glaciers. In the east, these glaciers make their sinuous way through complex terrain at low speed. They form long floating extensions that deform slowly in the cold north. As we move toward sectors of higher snowfall in the northwest and center west, ice flow speeds increase by nearly a factor of 10, with many, smaller glaciers flowing straight down to the coastline at several kilometers per year.This complete description of ice motion was only made possible from the coordinated effort of four space agencies: the Japanese Space Agency, the Canadian Space Agency, the European Space Agency, and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The data will help scientists improve their understanding of the dynamics of ice in Greenland and in projecting how the Greenland Ice Sheet will respond to climate change in the decades and centuries to come. Related pages

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