Glaciologists and oceanographers often attempt to map out the response of glaciers and fjords to water input. In essence, they try to create a function that allows for the prediction of glacier and fjord dynamics under different weather and climate scenarios.  In this paper, through close study of neighboring glaciers and fjords in West Greenland, we find that the three glaciological and oceanographic systems have entirely distinct behaviors.  Given a uniform amount of melt at the ice sheet surface, some glaciers speed up while other glaciers slow down.  Subglacial discharge in one fjord transits the fjord at 150 m, while it is found at the surface in another.  We find that glacier and fjord geometry are critical at defining these relationships.  When working to understand the behavior of glaciers and fjords, their specific shapes (especially depths) must be taking into account.

The article is available here.