Firn Compaction in Greenland

Abstract

The Greenland ice sheet is for a large part covert with a layer of firn. This layer of firn influences the average density of the total ice sheet, therefor knowing the density of the firn layer will be very important for researches about the ice sheets water content.

The density of the layer of firn is modelled, using a one-dimensional time-dependent firn model, together with the firn layer temperatures and the amount of liquid water inside this layer. Model runs have been performed, for some locations at greenland with a wide variability in climate forcing, as gives by the RACMO2 model. Al these locations gave us firn layers with widely varying characteristics. Melt occurs almost everywhere at Greenland, with mid greenland, where the temperatures remain far under the melting point as exception. Some of the layers where melt occurs contain aquifers, most of them do not. These differences make the Greenland firn layer an interesting place for firn layer research.