Water temperature, salinity, and velocity taken by CTD and ADCP from a small boat and remote-controlled surface vehicle from 2012-07-16 to 2012-07-25 in Sarqardleq Fjord, Greenland (NCEI Accession 0210572)

These data address the interaction of the ocean with tidewater glaciers around the margins of the Greenland Ice Sheet is thought to be a key control on ice sheet stability. Thus, understanding the processes which drive melting of the calving fronts of tidewater glaciers by the ocean is fundamental to projections of future global mean sea level rise.

Our understanding is however currently limited, partly due to the scarcity of oceanographic data from close to the calving fronts of tidewater glaciers. The primary goal of these measurements was to quantify the ocean conditions adjacent to a west Greenland tidewater glacier. In particular, knowledge of the water temperature and water velocity is highly valuable as these are understood to be the two primary variables determining the rate at which the ocean melts the calving front of the glacier.