C001-03
Local Responses to Global Change: Predicting the Impact of Future Sea Level Change Around the Coast of Greenland
Monday, 7 December 2020: 04:08
Virtual
Robin Elizabeth Bell1, Aqqaluk Sorensen2, Karl Brix Zinglersen2, David Blockley2, Diana Krawczyk2, Ninni Jeremiassen2, Jane Plesner2, Kirsty J Tinto3, David Felton Porter4, Casey Brayton5, Marina Reimer6, Margie Turrin7, Jacqueline Austermann8, Jonathan Kingslake9, Frank Oliver Nitsche10 and Guy Paxman11, (1)Lamont -Doherty Earth Observatory, Palisades, NY, United States, (2)Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Nuuk, Greenland, (3)Columbia University, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Palisades, NY, United States, (4)Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Palisades, NY, United States, (5)Lamont -Doherty Earth Observatory, Palisades, United States, (6)Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Communications, Nuuk, Greenland, (7)LDEO of Columbia University, Palisades, NY, United States, (8)Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States, (9)Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, NY, United States, (10)Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, NY, United States, (11)University, Durham, United Kingdom
Abstract:
Melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet contributes to rising global sea levels, but local sea level around much of the coast of Greenland is falling due to rebound as the load of the nearby ice sheet is reduced. Communities in Greenland are focused around the coast and the expected impact of sea level change varies widely according to local factors of the physical, built and social environment of individual communities. This project identifies local impacts of nearby ice sheet change by improving models of the solid earth response to observed mass change and mapping of the bathymetry and habitats of the shallow-to-subtidal submarine landscapes near to communities and fishing areas around the coast.
In a partnership between Columbia University and the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources (GINR) we are conducting multi-beam echosounding and submarine habitat surveys centered around four varying communities around the coast, using the Greenlandic research vessel R/V Sanna and custom small boats capable of mapping in shallow water. We present the preliminary results of bathymetry and habitat surveys for Aasiaat and Nuuk, the two surveys planned for the summer of 2020 by GINR researchers and students. Survey plans were co-produced during meetings with local stakeholders, including with the municipality, industry representatives, and members of the local Hunters and Fishers organization. Targets include important marine fishing and harvesting resources, extending geologic mapping and sediment distribution, and safe intercoastal passages becoming more dangerous to navigate. Other key advances are the seamless stitching of the deeper Sanna bathymetry to the shallow small boat product, and combining echosounder backscatter with a towed camera and bottom grabs to create regional benthic habitat type maps. Co-production is threaded throughout the project all the way through dissemination and communicating results, which continue to be developed and shared with the community through follow-up visits, in addition to the educational materials being developed as part of the project.
