Greenland Ice Sheet Stratigraphy
- Visualizations by:
- Cindy Starr
- Scientific consulting by:
- Joe MacGregor
- View full credits
The above movie shows the new 3D map of the age of the Greenland ice sheet, using a collage of live footage and animation to explain how scientists determined the age from data collected by ice-penetrating radar.
The full script of the narration is available here.
This video is also available on our YouTube channel.
Now a new analysis of this data has revealed a three dimensional map of the age of the ice sheet. This visualization shows this new 3D age map of the Greenland Ice Sheet, explains how it was created and describes the three distinct periods of climate that are evident within the ice sheet.
More information is available here.
This print resolution image shows one cross-section of the age of the Greenland Ice Sheet as determined by MacGregor et al. (See citation under the "More Details..." button below) Layers determined to be from the Holocene period, formed during the past 11.7 thousand years, are shown in Green. Age layers accumulated during the last ice age, from 11.7 to 115 thousand years ago are shown in blue. Age layers from the Eemian period, more than 115 thousand years old are shown in red. Regions of unknown age are filled with a flat gray colour.
This image shows the layers from radargram data that were collected by an Operation Ice Bridge flight over the Greenland ice sheet on May 2, 2011. An overlay of colored lines traced along layers indicates the age of individual layers across the ice sheet. The age layers are colored by the period colour, with Holocene layers shown in green and those from the last ice age shown in blue. Labels indicate the age of various layers. The 1966 Camp Century ice core is shown on the left.
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio
Animator
- Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC)
Visualizer
- Cindy Starr (GST) [Lead]
Video editors
- Cindy Starr (GST)
- Jefferson Beck (KBRwyle)
- Stuart A. Snodgrass (KBRwyle)
Scientists
- Joe MacGregor (NASA/GSFC) [Lead]
- Mark Fahnestock (Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks)
Producer
- Jefferson Beck (KBRwyle)
Narration
- Cindy Starr (GST)
- Jefferson Beck (KBRwyle)
- Joe MacGregor (NASA/GSFC)
- Mark Fahnestock (Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks)
Narrator
- Jefferson Beck (KBRwyle)
Project support
- Ian Jones (ADNET)
- Laurence Schuler (ADNET)
Papers
This visualization is based on the following papers:-
MacGregor, J.A., M.A. Fahnestock, G.A. Catania, J.D. Paden, S. Gogineni, S.K. Young, S.C. Rybarski, A.N. Mabrey, B.M. Wagman and M. Morlighem, Radiostratigraphy and age structure of the Greenland Ice Sheet, J. Geophys. Res. Earth Surface, 2015, doi: 10.1002/2014JF003215
( http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2014JF003215/abstract ).
M. Morlighem, E. Rignot, J. Mouginot, H. Seroussi and E. Larour, Deeply incised submarine glacial valleys beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet, Nat. Geosci., 7, 418-422, 2014, doi:10.1038/ngeo2167
( http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ngeo2167.html ).
Datasets used in this visualization
SHIZUKU (GCOM-W1) 10 km Daily 89 GHz Brightness Temperature (Collected with the AMSR2 sensor)
Credit: AMSR2 data courtesy of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
See more visualizations using this data setSHIZUKU (GCOM-W1) 10 km Daily Sea Ice Concentration (Collected with the AMSR2 sensor)
Credit: AMSR2 data courtesy of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
See more visualizations using this data setTerra and Aqua BMNG (A.K.A. Blue Marble: Next Generation) (Collected with the MODIS sensor)
Credit: The Blue Marble data is courtesy of Reto Stockli (NASA/GSFC).
Dataset can be found at: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/BlueMarble/
See more visualizations using this data setGreenland Ice Sheet Inferred 3-D Age Volume
Greenland Mass Conservation Dataset - Bed Topography
Greenland Mass Conservation Dataset - Ice Thickness
Greenland Mass Conservation Dataset - Surface Elevation
IceBridge L1B Geolocated Radar Echo Strength Profiles, Version 2 (Collected with the MCoRDS sensor)
Dataset can be found at: http://nsidc.org/data/irmcr1b#expandMajorVersionSummary
See more visualizations using this data setTERRA MODIS Mosaic of Greenland (MOG) Image Map (Collected with the MODIS sensor)
Aircraft Operation IceBridge Flight Paths
Aircraft Pre-IceBridge Flight Paths
Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.
Related pages
Instagram: The Greenland Ice Sheet In 3-D
Jan. 23, 2015, 9 a.m.
Read moreFor complete transcript, click here. || For nearly a century, scientists have been studying the form and flow of the Greenland Ice Sheet. They have measured the change in the elevation of the surface over time using satellites. They have drilled ice cores in the field to reveal a record of what the past climate was like. They have flown aircraft over the surface of the ice sheet laden with instruments to gleen information about the interior of the ice sheet and the bedrock below.Now a new analysis of this data has revealed a three dimensional map of the age of the ice sheet. This animation shows this new 3D age map of the Greenland Ice Sheet, explains how it was created and describes the three distinct periods of climate that are evident within the ice sheet.
