近日，研究人员在12月在线出版的Nature Geoscience期刊上发表报告"Rapid response of Helheim Glacier in Greenland to climate variability over the past century"称，自从1890年以来，格陵兰岛黑尔海姆冰川的冰裂速度首次达到目前的水平。
这项研究发现表明，尽管在冰山裂解过程中冰释放的速度有很大的波动性，但目前观察到的冰川裂解活动是非同寻常的高。
在格陵兰岛，利用采集自峡湾的沉积岩心，Camilla Andresen和同事重建了从黑尔海姆冰川到塞尔米利克峡湾的冰山崩解速度。他们发现每年的沙粒沉积量有很大变化，表明冰山裂解也有很大的波动性。然而，目前的裂解速度之高破了纪录，类似的活动之前只在20世纪30年代发生过一次。（生物谷Bioon.com）
doi:10.1038/ngeo1349
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Rapid response of Helheim Glacier in Greenland to climate variability over the past century
Camilla S. Andresen,Fiammetta Straneo,Mads Hvid Ribergaard,Anders A. Bj rk,Thorbj rn J. Andersen,Antoon Kuijpers,Niels N?rgaard-Pedersen,et al.
During the early 2000s the Greenland Ice Sheet experienced the largest ice-mass loss of the instrumental record1, largely as a result of the acceleration, thinning and retreat of large outlet glaciers in West and southeast Greenland2, 3, 4, 5. The quasi-simultaneous change in the glaciers suggests a common climate forcing. Increasing air6 and ocean7, 8 temperatures have been indicated as potential triggers. Here, we present a record of calving activity of Helheim Glacier, East Greenland, that extends back to about AD 1890, based on an analysis of sedimentary deposits from Sermilik Fjord, where Helheim Glacier terminates. Specifically, we use the annual deposition of sand grains as a proxy for iceberg discharge. Our record reveals large fluctuations in calving rates, but the present high rate was reproduced only in the 1930s. A comparison with climate indices indicates that high calving activity coincides with a relatively strong influence of Atlantic water and a lower influence of polar water on the shelf off Greenland, as well as with warm summers and the negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation. Our analysis provides evidence that Helheim Glacier responds to short-term fluctuations of large-scale oceanic and atmospheric conditions, on timescales of 3–10 years
