Journal of Glaciology, Vol. 54, No. 184, 2008 131 Intermittent thinning of Jakobshavn Isbræ, West Greenland, since the Little Ice Age Bea CSATHO,1 Toni SCHENK,2 C.J. VAN DER VEEN,3 William B. KRABILL4 1Department of Geology, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, 855 Natural Sciences Complex, Buffalo, New York 14260, USA E-mail:
[email protected] 2Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Geodetic Science, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210-1275, USA 3Department of Geography and Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets, University of Kansas, 2335 Irving Hill Road, Lawrence, Kansas 66045-7612, USA 4Cryospheric Sciences Branch, Goddard Space Flight Center NASA/Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Virginia 23337, USA ABSTRACT. Rapid thinning and velocity increase on major Greenland outlet glaciers during the last two decades may indicate that these glaciers became unstable as a consequence of the Jakobshavn effect (Hughes, 1986), with terminus retreat leading to increased discharge from the interior and consequent further thinning and retreat. To assess whether recent trends deviate from longer-term behavior, we measured glacier surface elevations and terminus positions for Jakobshavn Isbræ, West Greenland, using historical photographs acquired in 1944, 1953, 1959, 1964 and 1985. These results were combined with data from historical records, aerial photographs, ground surveys, airborne laser altimetry and field mapping of lateral moraines and trimlines, to reconstruct the history of changes since the Little Ice Age (LIA). We identified three periods of rapid thinning since the LIA: 1902–13, 1930–59 and 1999–present. During the first half of the 20th century, the calving front appears to have been grounded and it started to float during the late 1940s.