Polar Science 27 (2021) 100632

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Rapidly changing glaciers, ocean and coastal environments, and theirimpact on human society in the Qaanaaq region, northwestern Greenland
Shin Sugiyama a, b, *, Naoya Kanna a, b, Daiki Sakakibara a, b, Takuto Ando a, b, Izumi Asaji a, c,
Ken Kondo a, c, Yefan Wang a, c, Yoshiki Fujishi a, c, Shungo Fukumoto a, c, Evgeniy Podolskiy b,
Yasushi Fukamachi b, d, Minori Takahashi b, e, Sumito Matoba a, b, Yoshinori Iizuka a, b,
Ralf Greve a, b, Masato Furuya b, f, Kazutaka Tateyama g, Tatsuya Watanabe g,
Shintaro Yamasaki h, Atsushi Yamaguchi b, i, Bungo Nishizawa j, Kohei Matsuno b, i,
Daiki Nomura b, i, Yuta Sakuragi k, Yoshimasa Matsumura l, Yoshihiko Ohashi m, Teruo Aoki j, n,
Masashi Niwano n, Naotaka Hayashi o, Masahiro Minowa p, Guillaume Jouvet q, r, s,
Eef van Dongen q, Andreas Bauder q, Martin Funk q, Anders Anker Bjørk t, Toku Oshima uaInstitute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University, Nishi8, Kita19, Sapporo, 060-0819, Japan
Arctic Research Center, Hokkaido University, Nishi11, Kita21, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 001-0021, Japanc
Graduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido University, Kita10, Nishi5, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-0809, Japand
Global Station for Arctic Research, Global Institution for Collaborative Research and Education, Hokkaido University, Kita8, Nishi5, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-0808,
JapaneSlavic-Eurasian Research Center, Hokkaido University, Kita9, Nishi7, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japanf
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, Nishi8, Kita10, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japang
Kitami Institute of Technology, 165 Koen-cho, Kitami, Hokkaido, 090-8507, JapanhDisaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University, 492-1 Fujinoi, Miyoshi, Tokushima, 778-0020, Japani
Graduate School of Fisheries Science, Hokkaido University, 3-1-1 Minato-cho, Hakodate, 041-8611, Japanj
National Institute of Polar Research, 10-3 Midori-cho, Tachikawa, Tokyo, 190-8518, Japank
Graduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido University, 20-5 Benten-cho, Hakodate, Hokkaido, 040-0051, Japanl
Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Chiba, Japanm
Department of Ocean Sciences, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, 4-5-7 Konan, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 108-8477, Japann
Meteorological Research Institute, Japan Meteorological Agency, 1-1 Nagamine, Tsukuba, 305-0052, Japano
Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive N.W, Calgary, Alberta, T2N 1N4, CanadapInstituto de Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chileq
Laboratory of Hydraulics, Hydrology and Glaciology, ETH Zurich, Hönggerbergring 26, 8093, Zurich, Switzerlandr
Department of Geography, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057, Zurich, Switzerlands
Autonomous Systems Laboratory, ETH Zurich, Leonhardstrasse 21, 8092, Zurich, Switzerlandt
Centre for Geo Genetics, University of Copenhagen, 1350, Copenhagen, DenmarkuB-431, 3971, Qaanaaq, Greenlandb

A R T I C L E I N F O

A B S T R A C T

Keywords:
Greenland
Glacier
Ocean
Marine ecosystem
Natural hazard

Environments along the coast of Greenland are rapidly changing under the influence of a warming climate in the
Arctic. To better understand the changes in the coastal environments, we performed researches in the Qaanaaq
region in northwestern Greenland as a part of the ArCS (Arctic Challenge for Sustainability) Project. Mass loss of
ice caps and marine-terminating outlet glaciers were quantified by field and satellite observations. Measurements
and sampling in fjords revealed the important role of glacial meltwater discharge in marine ecosystems. Floodingof a glacial stream in Qaanaaq and landslides in a nearby settlement were investigated to identify the drivers of
the incidents. Our study observed rapid changes in the coastal environments, and their critical impact on thesociety in Qaanaaq. We organized workshops with the residents to absorb local and indigenous knowledge, as
well as to share the results and data obtained in the project. Continuous effort towards obtaining long-term* Corresponding author. Arctic Research Center, Hokkaido University, Nishi11, Kita21, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 001-0021, Japan.
E-mail address: sugishin@lowtem.hokudai.ac.jp (S. Sugiyama).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polar.2020.100632
Received 30 March 2020; Received in revised form 16 December 2020; Accepted 17 December 2020
Available online 28 December 2020
1873-9652/© 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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observations requiring involvement of local communities is crucial to contribute to a sustainable future inGreenland.

1. Introduction

Climate Change Research Project. The objective of the study was toquantify the mass loss of glaciers and the ice sheet in the Qaanaaq re­gion, and better understand the mechanism driving the ice loss. Soon
after the first field activity in 2012, we realized the importance of theocean in the observed glacial changes, as well as the influence of glacial
discharge on the ocean environment. Thus, we have expanded our
research area to include the ocean, and chosen glacier-ocean interaction
as the central research subject of the next project ArCS (Arctic Challenge
for Sustainability) began in 2015 (Fig. 2). In the ArCS Project, we further
expanded our research to include the impact of changing coastal envi­
ronments on society in Qaanaaq. This is because serious impacts onsociety were clearly observed as a result of natural disasters in the formof landslides and glacial flooding.
In this contribution, we summarize our research activities in the
Qaanaaq region and review important findings obtained under the ArCS
Project. Studies described in this paper are contributions to ArCS Project
Theme 2 “Variations in the ice sheet, glaciers, ocean and environment in
the Greenland region”. A paper by Goto-Azuma et al. (2020) describes
another part of the Theme 2 activities, which studied variability of theGreenland ice sheet and climate using ice cores and snow samples frominteriors of the ice sheet.

Greenland is characterized by the Greenland ice sheet and peripheral
glaciers, which cover about 80% of the land area with a mean ice
thickness of about 1700 m (Morlighem et al., 2017; Rastner et al., 2012;
AMAP, 2017). The ice sheet and glaciers play a key role in the envi­
ronment along the coast of Greenland as well as in the global climate
system. For example, freshwater discharge from the ice sheet to theocean is reported as approximately 1000 km3 a− 1 (Bamber et al., 2012),
which corresponds to ~25% of total river runoff into the Arctic Ocean(Haine et al., 2015). The discharge in the form of meltwater or icebergs
affects coastal marine ecosystems, as well as the properties of seawaterand ocean circulation. Moreover, glacial discharge carries substantial
amounts of sediment and geochemical substances, thus additional im­
pacts are expected in the ocean environment (e.g., Musilova et al., 2017;
Overeem et al., 2017). Therefore, changes in the ice sheet and glaciers
have a critical impact on the coastal environment in Greenland.
The Greenland ice sheet and glaciers are losing mass under the
rapidly changing climate in the Arctic. Ice mass loss in Greenland began
in 1980–90s, and greatly accelerated in the 21st century (e.g. Mouginot
et al., 2019; van den Broeke et al., 2016). The rate of the mass losschanged from − 40 Gt a− 1 in 1990–2000 to − 185 Gt a− 1 2000–2010, andfurther accelerated to − 286 Gt a− 1 in 2010–2019 (Mouginot et al.,2019). The loss of ice from Greenland accounts for nearly half of the sea
level rise caused by glaciers and ice sheets in 2004–2010 (AMAP, 2017).
One of the mechanisms of the mass loss observed in Greenland isincreasingly negative surface mass balance affected by intensive sum­mer melting. Rising temperatures in the Arctic are the most importantdriver of the melt increase. Melt is also affected by albedo reduction due
to expanding bare ice area, darkening ice surface, and snow grain
growth (e.g. Box et al., 2012; Tedesco et al., 2016; Ryan et al., 2019).
Another important mechanism of the mass loss is acceleration ofmarine-terminating glaciers. Satellite observations have shown rapidchanges of the glaciers near the calving front, where ice discharge in­creases, thickness decreases and the front position retreats (e.g. Joughin
et al., 2004; Rignot and Kanagaratnam, 2006; Howat et al., 2007).
Warming oceans are suspected as drivers of the glacier change, but our
understanding of the processes connecting the ocean with glacier change
are insufficient (e.g., Rignot et al., 2010; Straneo and Heimbach, 2013;
Straneo et al., 2019).
An increasing body of evidence, reported by recent studies, demon­
strates the importance of glacial discharge in the coastal marine envi­
ronment around Greenland. Glaciers discharge a large amount ofsuspended sediment into the ocean (Overeem et al., 2017), which carries
bioavailable iron required for primary production in the ocean (Bhatia
et al., 2013). Subglacial discharge from marine-terminating glaciers
upwells in fjords, where nutrient-rich deep ocean water is transported tothe surface (Meire et al., 2017; Cape et al., 2018; Hopwood et al., 2018).
Further, glacier surface meltwater is a significant source of dissolved
organic carbon, which is produced by microbial communities on the ice
surface (Musilova et al., 2017). Material transport caused by glacial
discharge strongly affects biological activities in glacial fjords, as rep­resented by the formation of foraging hot spots of seabirds and marine
mammals in front of marine-terminating glaciers (Lydersen et al., 2014).
Unique fjord ecosystems near the glacier front have been observed byresidents for a long time, but scientific knowledge is insufficient to un­derstand links connecting the glacial discharge, nutrient transport, pri­mary production, fish, birds, and marine mammals.
In 2011, we launched a research project in Qaanaaq, northwestern
Greenland (Fig. 1), under the framework of a Japanese interdisciplinary
Arctic research project, GRENE (Green Network of Excellence) Arctic

2. Study site
Qaanaaq (77◦ 28′ N, 69◦ 14′ W) is a settlement in northwestern
Greenland of approximately 600 people (Fig. 1). We initiated our
research project in this region because of its proximity to Qaanaaq
Airport that facilitates logistics, previous and ongoing Japanese research
activities based in Qaanaaq (e.g., Matoba et al., 2002; Uetake et al.,2010; Aoki et al., 2014), and the sparsity of glacier studies despite
recently accelerated mass loss in northwestern sector of the Greenland
ice sheet (Khan et al., 2010). The village is located on the coast of apeninsula, which is mostly covered by Qaanaaq Ice Cap (260 km2)
(Fig. 1). The ocean in front of the village is a part of Inglefield Bredning,which at ~100 km long and ~20 km wide is the largest fjord system in
the region (Fig. 1). The ocean is covered by sea ice over winter andFig. 1. Satellite image (Landsat 7 on July 24, 1999) of the Qaanaaq region innorthwestern Greenland. The inset shows the locations of Qaanaaq (○) and theSE-Dome drilling site (●) in Greenland.
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spring until it opens generally in early July. The condition of sea ice is ofgreat concern to the local community because it enables people to use
dog sledges and snowmobiles. The timing of sea ice opening is of greatinterest to the residents because the first supply ship of the year arrives
as soon as the sea ice disappears. Because a number ofmarine-terminating glaciers feed the fjord, icebergs are abundant near
the settlement. They are utilized as a freshwater resource in winter time.

of ice surface elevation (Tsutaki et al., 2017b), ice speed andnear-surface ice temperature (Tsutaki et al., 2017a) to understand thephysical processes driving the glacier change. Ice temperature waselevated by latent heat released by refreezing meltwater, suggesting its
influence on the dynamics of the glacier (Kondo et al., 2019a).
Studies were also carried out on the ice sheet’s outlet glaciers. Sat­ellite data showed that all 19 marine-terminating outlet glaciers in thisregion have been retreating since 2000 (Sakakibara and Sugiyama,2018). Some of the glaciers retreated more rapidly than others, whichwere accompanied by acceleration near the glacier front. Presumably,
retreat and thinning near the calving front triggered the acceleration,
resulting in further mass loss as observed in other glaciers in Greenland(e.g. Joughin et al., 2004; Howat et al., 2007). DEM analyses demon­
strated that greatest thinning rates were observed at rapidly retreating
and speeding up glaciers (Fig. 4), which implied the critical role of ice
dynamics in the mass loss of the outlet glaciers (Wang et al., submitted).
Further analyses of satellite data revealed seasonal variations in ice
speed controlled by meltwater production on the glaciers (Sakakibara
and Sugiyama, 2020). This finding confirmed that the glacier dynamics
are sensitive to external perturbation, which is modulated by climaticconditions.
The results obtained at outlet glaciers in the Qaanaaq region exem­
plified the importance of ice dynamics as well as surface mass balance tounderstand ice mass loss in Greenland. Accurate understanding of thedriving mechanism of the glacier retreat, thinning and acceleration is
critical to estimate the fate of the glaciers and its contribution to sea
level rise. To this end, intensive research was performed at Bowdoin
Glacier (official name after Bjørk et al. (2015) is Kangerluarsuup Ser­mia), one of the marine-terminating glaciers in the region.

3. Study results
3.1. Mass loss of ice caps and outlet glaciers
Recent mass loss of the ice sheet in northwestern Greenland has beenreported by previous studies (Khan et al., 2010; Kjær et al., 2012).
However, details of the changes were unclear because research innorthwestern Greenland was sparse. To quantify ice loss and its varia­
tions in space and time, we performed satellite and field observations on
ice caps and outlet glaciers in the Qaanaaq region.
We generated digital elevation models (DEMs) from satellite images
to measure surface elevation change on six ice caps in the study area.
This study revealed thinning of the ice caps from 2006 to 2010 at a rateof − 1.1 m a− 1 (Saito et al., 2016). Comparison with a previous study
indicated a two-fold increase in the thinning rate from 2003 to 2008
(Bolch et al., 2013). The most important driver of the mass loss is at­mospheric warming, which is represented by a summer temperature
increase in Qaanaaq at a rate of 0.12 ◦ C a− 1 during 1997–2013 (Saito
et al., 2016). In addition to the warming trend, melt is enhanced byalbedo reduction due to glacial microbes covering ice surfaces(Sugiyama et al., 2014; Takeuchi et al., 2018). The abundance of the
microbes is possibly affected by insoluble particles melting out fromglacial ice (Matoba et al., 2020). Melt increase is also affecting the ocean
because glacial discharge transports a greater amount of sediment into
the ocean as demonstrated by our remote-sensing analysis (Ohashi et al.,2016).
Detailed in-situ measurements were carried out on Qaanaaq Glacier,an outlet glacier of Qaanaaq Ice Cap (Fig. 1). Surface mass balance of theice cap has been measured from 2012 to present, and showed signifi­
cantly large year-to-year variations (Tsutaki et al., 2017a; Kondo et al.,2019a). After a largely negative mass balance in the 2014/15 season(− 0.7 m w.e. a− 1 as a mean over the glacier), slightly positive massbalance was observed in the years that followed: 2016/17 and 2017/18(Fig. 3). Nevertheless, mass balance in 2018/19 was as negative as in2014/15, and a generally negative mass balance trend is clearlyobserved. Our measurement is valuable because mass balance records
are available at only a limited number of glaciers in Greenland’s coastal
areas (Machguth et al., 2016). We also performed in-situ measurements

3.2. Dynamics of a marine-terminating outlet glacier
Following the satellite-based study on the marine-terminating outlet
glaciers, field measurements were carried out at Bowdoin Glacierlocated ~30 km northeast of Qaanaaq (Fig. 1). The glacier began a rapid
retreat in 2008 after a relatively stable condition lasting for >20 years(Sugiyama et al., 2015). We have studied this glacier in collaboration
with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, including
hot-water drilling through the glacier in July 2014 (Seguinot et al.,2020). Field campaigns were repeated in the summers of 2013–2017
and 2019.
An in-situ survey of the ice surface elevation showed thinning of theglacier in 2007–2013 at a rate faster than − 5 m a− 1 (Tsutaki et al.,2016). Thinning was more rapid near the glacier front, and its magni­
tude was more than twice as large as the negative surface mass balancein the area. These observations implied that thinning was not simply due

Fig. 2. Schematic diagram showing Greenland’s coastal environments.
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Fig. 3. Annual surface mass balance measured using stakes on Qaanaaq Ice Cap for the hydrological years from 2012/2013 to 2018/2019.

Fig. 4. Rates of surface elevation change from 1985 to 2016 on outlet glaciers in the Qaanaaq region. The measurement was performed by differencing DEMs derived
from aerial photographs in 1985 (Korsgaard et al., 2016) and ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer) (Hirano et al., 2003)
images in 2016.

to surface melting, but largely affected by ice flow acceleration, as
observed by satellite data (Sakakibara and Sugiyama, 2018).
A possible driver of the retreat and acceleration of Bowdoin Glacier
was the glacier bed geometry. We measured fjord depth near the glacierfront, an area covered by ice before the recent retreat. Sonar measure­ments from a boat operated by a local collaborator in Qaanaaq, as well
as from an unmanned research vessel (Yamasaki et al., 2017), revealed abump on the ocean floor ~1 km from the front. The current glacier front
is situated in an overdeepening area behind the bump, and the ice
thickness was nearly equal to the isostatic equilibrium condition, i.e.
gravitational force acting on the ice was counterbalanced by the buoy­
ancy (Asaji et al., 2018). This observation strongly suggested the controlof the fjord depth on the glacier front stability, a process proposed bynumerical modelling studies (e.g. Nick et al., 2009).
To improve our understanding of physical processes controlling therecent retreat of Bowdoin Glacier, intensive field measurements havebeen carried out near the ice front. In-situ measurements near the frontof a calving glacier are particularly important, but such measurements
are sparse because the ice surface is crevassed and the front is unstable.
Several different types of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) wereoperated on the glacier in the summers of 2015–2017 and in 2019 tomap repetitively the calving front by photogrammetry for analyzing ice
motion and calving events. Detailed analyses of the resulting orthoim­
ages show that spatial ice speed variations control the location and di­rection of a crack formation, and lead to large-scale calving (Jouvet
et al., 2017). The ice speed field was affected by a subglacial bump near
the glacier front, thus bed geometry is an important control of themagnitude and frequency of calving events. The images taken by the
UAVs were also utilized to investigate tsunami waves generated bycalving. This study demonstrated that tsunami measurement is apromising tool for a long-term monitoring of calving activity (Minowa
et al., 2019). Further, the UAV images captured turbid water upwellingfrom the glacier bed, i.e. a meltwater plume in front of the glacier(Jouvet et al., 2018). The plume formation plays a critical role not only
for submarine ice melting (e.g., Motyka et al., 2003; Rignot et al., 2010),
but also for glacial fjord ecosystems, which will be described in the next
subsection. Glacier dynamics were studied by means of seismic mea­
surements as well, which revealed semidiurnal seismicity variations
driven by tidal ice speed variations (Podolskiy et al., 2016). The glacierflows faster during low tide, which stretches ice and causes more
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frequent icequakes due to crevasse opening. A terrestrial radar inter­
ferometer revealed that a large crevasse widened at the fastest rateduring low tide and lead to a major calving event in 2017 (van Dongen
et al., 2020). Repeated measurements in 2019 suggested the calving
mechanism of Bowdoin Glacier is changing in recent years under the
influence of ice thinning near the front (van Dongen et al., in press).
Motivated by these in-situ observations, full-Stokes three-dimen­
sional numerical models were developed to study the dynamics of
Bowdoin Glacier. Basal friction was optimized using an inverse method,
so that regions of enhanced basal drag were identified and observed
short-term ice speed variations, including the tidal modulation, werepartially reproduced (Seddik et al., 2019). The numerical experiment
implied the importance of subglacial water pressure, demonstrating theneed for studies on surface meltwater drainage to the glacier bed(Podolskiy, 2020). Higher resolution models were applied to the calving
front to investigate calving events captured by UAV measurements(Jouvet et al., 2017; van Dongen et al., 2020). These studies highlighted
the importance of surface meltwater, tide and submarine ice geometry
for crevasse opening leading to large calving. Numerical modelling ofcalving glacier fronts based on in-situ data is still sparse, thus thesenumerical experiments on Bowdoin Glacier provided new insights into
the dynamics and calving processes of a marine-terminating glacier.

Fig. 5. Schematic diagram showing a glacial meltwater plume in front of amarine terminating glacier and fjord ecosystems. Subglacial discharge upwellswith macronutrients (nitrate, phosphate and silicate), which facilitates phyto­plankton bloom. Upwelling water also transports zooplankton to the surface,forming foraging hot spots of seabirds and marine mammals.

forage outside the fjord, since turbid glacial discharge hinders birds from
diving. Further, underwater acoustic measurements in Bowdoin Fjord
indicated the presence of narwhals within several hundred meters of thecalving front of Bowdoin Glacier (Podolskiy and Sugiyama, 2020). This
result suggests that there could be some poorly known influence ofglacial discharge on narwhals, an endemic species in the Arctic and an
important resource for indigenous people in northwestern Greenland.
Our observations indicated the critical importance of glacial discharge
in the fjord ecosystem. Therefore, serious impacts on the marine pro­ductivity are expected in the case of changes in the amount of meltwater
discharge or the glacier front position.

3.3. Influence of glacial meltwater on fjord environments
Near the front of Bowdoin Glacier, numerous seabirds were observed
particularly in the vicinity of meltwater plumes. Although such foraging
hotspots have been recognized by local hunters, processes maintaining
this unique ecosystem were unclear. Moreover, only a few ocean mea­
surements have been reported in the Qaanaaq region (Dybkjær et al.,2011; Willis et al., 2018). To investigate a link between glacial discharge
and physical/biogeochemical environments of fjords, we carried out
ocean measurements in the 2014–2019 summer seasons using smallboats operated by local collaborators in Qaanaaq.
Temperature and salinity measurements in Bowdoin Fjord (Fig. 1)
showed a water structure similar to those observed in other Greenlandic
fjords (e.g. Straneo and Heimbach, 2013). Relatively warm and salty
Atlantic Water occupied depths deeper than 200 m, which was overlain
by cold and relatively fresh Polar Water (Ohashi et al., 2020). Numericalmodel experiments showed an interaction between subglacial meltwater
discharge and fjord stratification. The amount of discharge affects water
properties and stratifications in the fjord, whereas annual variabilities inthe stratification control distribution of the meltwater discharge into thefjord (Matsumura et al., 2017; Ohashi et al., 2020). Seasonal variationsin the water properties were investigated by deploying mooring devices
in the fjord from 2016 to 2019. Measurements 17 km from the glacier
showed relatively small seasonal temperature variations, whereas bot­
tom water 1 km from the glacier indicated significant cooling during thesummer periods (Fujishi et al., 2019).
Intensive measurements and sampling in Bowdoin Fjord revealed alink between meltwater discharge and glacial fjord ecosystems (Fig. 5).
When subglacial discharge upwells along the glacier front, nutrient richdeep water is entrained into the upwelling meltwater (Kanna et al.,2018). The concentrations of macronutrients and dissolved inorganiccarbon in the upwelling water were several times greater than thosesampled in the fjord. Thus, meltwater discharge transports nutrients to anear-surface layer, where the nutrients are used for plankton blooms.
Since subglacial meltwater is rich in iron, the upwelling discharge alsoenhances iron concentration in the fjord and facilitate summer planktonboom (Kanna et al., 2020). Moreover, meltwater upwells withlarge-sized zooplankton, which is important prey for fish and seabirds
aggregating in the plume area (Naito et al., 2019; Matsuno et al., 2020).
Interestingly, subglacial discharge affects seabird habitat, depending on
foraging behavior of species (Nishizawa et al., 2019). Surface feeders
aggregate near the glacier front because abundant zooplankton and fish
are available. In contrast, divers keep away from the glacier front and3.4. Sea ice, snow and atmospheric conditions
Ice cores and snow samples were collected and analyzed to investi­
gate atmospheric conditions in Greenland. A 60-m-long ice core wasdrilled at SIGMA-A, located in the accumulation area of the ice sheet at
70 km northeast from Qaanaaq (78◦ 03′ N, 67◦ 38′ W, 1490 m a.s.l.)(Fig. 1). The site is located in the so-called percolation zone (Benson,1961), where the magnitude of summer melt is affected by recent
warming trends. During a record surface melt event in 2012 (Nghiem
et al., 2012), for example, a remarkable amount of snowmelt andcontinuous heavy rainfall (100 mm in four-day period) were observed at
the site (Niwano et al., 2015). The melt feature fraction of the ice core
showed a significant increase in snow melt over the last ten years(Matoba et al., 2018). Water stable isotopes and chemical impurities ofsnow and ice samples were analyzed to identify the source of water tothe region and reconstruct the history of sea ice concentration in Baffin
Bay (Kurosaki et al., 2018, 2020). Another ice core drilled in south­
eastern Greenland at SE-Dome (67◦ 11′ N, 36◦ 22′ W, 3170 m a.s.l.)(Fig. 1) was analyzed for material transport to Greenland from otherregions in the Northern Hemisphere. The results indicated that ice inGreenland preserves tracers of biomass burning events in eastern Can­ada (Parvin et al., 2018), and documents anthropogenic nitrate emission
from North America (Furukawa et al., 2017; Iizuka et al., 2018).
Sea ice conditions in the Qaanaaq region were studied based on fieldand satellite observations. UAV measurements in Qaanaaq and field dataobtained since 2013 in Siorapaluk, a settlement located 50 km northwest
from Qaanaaq, were utilized to improve an algorithm to obtain sea ice
thickness from microwave satellite data. Improved algorithms contrib­
uted to accurate mapping of sea ice thickness over the Arctic Ocean, andalso to that in the Southern Ocean (Hoshino et al., 2018; Tateyama et al.,2018).
Meteorological conditions in the study area are monitored by5

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automatic weather stations on the ice sheet at SIGMA-A and on Qaanaaq
Ice Cap (SIGMA-B, 77◦ 31′ N, 69◦ 04 W, 944 m a.s.l.) (Fig. 1) (Aoki et al.,2014). These stations were installed in summer 2012 and have been
continuously operated as stations of the Global Cryosphere Watch
network of surface measurement. This station provides an importantdata set because long-term meteorological observation in northwestern
Greenland is sparse. The meteorological data are utilized for various
studies in the region, including regional climate modelling, surface massbalance and glacial discharge investigations (Niwano et al., 2015, 2018;
Tsutaki et al., 2017a; Kondo et al., 2019b, submitted). The data obtained
is provided through the Arctic Data Archiving System established andmaintained under the GRENE and ArCS Projects.

whereas that in 2016 was due to a heavy rain event (Kondo et al., 2019b,
submitted). Accurate quantification of glacial discharge from a rela­
tively small basin is still difficult for state-of-the-art climate models(Mankoff et al., 2020), thus discharge measurement and local scalemodelling are crucial to understand the flood mechanism and estimate arisk in the future. The rain event in 2016 caused another disaster inSiorapaluk. Rainwater triggered landslides on a steep slope behind thesettlement, and several buildings were damaged by debris and flush
floods (Yamasaki and Watanabe, 2019; Walls et al., 2020). Analysis of
the landslide deposit suggested that unstable shattered basal rocks slid
down the steep slope. These incidents indicate the urgent need toinvestigate these hazards and prepare further actions for disasterprevention.

3.5. Social dimension of the climate change

4. Community involvement

Rapidly changing coastal environments affect society in Greenland.
In collaboration with social scientists and residents in Qaanaaq, we
extended our study from natural environments to the social dimension.
Based on anthropological research activities in Qaanaaq and Siorapaluk,
Hayashi and Walls (2019) proposed a framework to understand thecomplex relationship between environmental changes and dynamic so­
cial response processes. Development of non-living resources inGreenland is often taken as a one-way impact on the indigenous people
from an outside society. Takahashi (2020) discussed the initiative of
local communities in the resource development, by taking into consid­
eration political studies on the self-rule government of Greenland.
Direct impacts of environmental changes on society have beenclearly observed in Qaanaaq. On 21 July in 2015, an outlet stream of
Qaanaaq Glacier flooded and destroyed a road connecting the settlement
and Qaanaaq Airport. The stream flooded again in the following year on
August 2, 2016, causing even greater destruction to the road. Bridges inthe settlement were also destroyed by increased discharge. To investi­
gate the details of the floods in 2015 and 2016, we measured dischargeof the outlet stream and melt on the glacier in 2017–2019. Together withmeteorological data from SIGMA-B, our study confirmed that the floodin 2015 was caused by intensive snow and ice melting on the glacier,Our field research activity was supported by local collaborators in
Qaanaaq. Particularly, ocean measurements were possible only throughcollaborations with hunters, who are familiar with local environments
and skillful at boat operation in the icy fjords. The collaborators showedinterest in our measurements, and provided useful knowledge and sug­gestions for our study. For example, the hunters were interested in our
fjord depth measurements because water depth is a key of information
for catching halibut, an important fishery resource in Qaanaaq. Based on
their knowledge of fjord depths, we were able to plan efficient and safe
measurement routes.
Following a suggestion by one of the collaborators, we organized thefirst workshop with the residents on July 25, 2016 at a gymnasium in
Qaanaaq (Fig. 6a). We introduced our research project and explained
study results. The audience actively questioned and commented on our
activities. Because of their interests and requests, ocean depth data werecompiled into bathymetry maps and distributed to the audience in thefollowing workshop held on 30 July 2017. A hazard map was generated
to illustrate the risk of landslides in Siorapaluk and distributed to theresidents in 2019 (Fig. 7). The workshop in Qaanaaq was repeated every
summer and also held in the smaller settlement of Qeqertat, located 60

Fig. 6. (a) Workshop held in Qaanaaq on July 25, 2016 and (b) Qeqertat on August 18, 2019. (c) Oral session and (d) booth presentation in Greenland Science Week
in Nuuk on December 5, 2019.
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Polar Science 27 (2021) 100632

Fig. 7. Map of Siorapaluk showing a risk of landslide hazard. Green and purple shades indicate high risk areas of slope failure and flood, respectively. The map is partof materials distributed in the workshop in Qaanaaq on August 8, 2019 and presented in Greenland Science Week in Nuuk on December 5, 2019.

km east (Figs. 1 and 6b). Audience comments provided a wealth of local
and indigenous knowledge, which accurately capture phenomena innatural environments. For example, hunters recognize tidal influence on
the frequency of calving events, which is consistent with our ice speed
and seismicity measurements on Bowdoin Glacier. To better understandthe perspective of the community on recent climate change, we provided
a questionnaire to survey the workshop audience and other residents(Sugiyama, 2020). The workshops provided us with an important op­
portunity to provide information to the Qaanaaq community detailing
our research activity. We also shared study results and data, exchanged
ideas about climate change and its social impact, and discussed future
subjects of study.
To extend our effort towards community involvement, we organized
an oral session and booth presentation at Greenland Science Week heldin December 2019 in the capital of Greenland, Nuuk. This international
symposium aimed to build bridges between science and the Greenlandic
society, and create a collaboration platform for the Greenlandic andinternational science communities. In one of the sessions, together witha local collaborator, we introduced research activities and collabora­
tions with the community in Qaanaaq (Fig. 6c). A social scientist fromthe Greenland Institute of Natural Resources commented on our pre­sentations and acted as a moderator to the audience. At our booth, we
presented posters and videos, displayed scientific instruments, andperformed a model experiment of a glacial meltwater plume (Fig. 6d).
The presentations were favorably received by the symposium partici­
pants, who included researchers, government officers, citizens, school
teachers and students. It was one of the emphases of the symposium that
local community should be informed of a scientific project, involved inresearch activity, and incorporated in project design.

Qaanaaq region. The influence of the changing coastal environments onhuman society was investigated as well. We focused efforts of a broad
range of researchers on the specific region, so that diverse researchquestions were tackled through multidisciplinary approaches.
The study indicated retreat and thinning of all marine-terminating
outlet glaciers in the region. Rapid retreat and thinning were accom­
panied by ice speed acceleration, implying a critical role of ice dynamics
in the recent glacier change. Intensive field measurements near thecalving front of Bowdoin Glacier revealed a critical influence of bed
geometry on the retreat and acceleration. New findings were also ob­tained for mechanisms of calving and ice motion. Monitoring on Qaa­
naaq Ice Cap since 2012 has shown large annual variations in the surface
mass balance, which demonstrated the importance of a long-term in-situ
observation.
Ocean measurements were performed in Bowdoin Fjord and Ingle­
field Bredning to understand the role of glacial meltwater in fjord eco­systems. Upwelling of subglacial discharge transports nutrients andplankton from deep water to the fjord surface. We quantified thenutrient transport and identified the upwelling plume as the key tomaintaining feeding hotspots of sea birds and marine mammals near theglacier front. Seabird and plankton habitat were controlled by the up­
welling plume, thus changes in the marine-terminating glaciers have apotential impact on the marine ecosystems. Further effort is needed toaccurately understand the impact of glacier changes on important ma­rine resources, fish and marine mammals.
Together with research on sea ice, ice cores and meteorologicalconditions, our data indicated rapid changes in the coastal environmentsin the Qaanaaq region. Such changes pose serious impact on societies
along the coast of Greenland. We investigated flooding of an outlet
stream of Qaanaaq Glacier, which destroyed infrastructure in 2015 and2016. Our study identified glacier melting and heavy rain as the causesof the floods, suggesting an increase in flood risk under warming
climate. Rain events were also responsible for landslides at Siorapaluk.
Involvement of a broader range of researchers, e.g. climatologists, en­gineers and social scientists, is required for mitigation and hazard pre­vention in the future.
Study results and data obtained in the project were shared with the

5. Conclusion
This paper summarized the studies on ice sheet/glacier-oceaninteraction in northwestern Greenland, which were carried out as partof ArCS Project Theme 2. Following studies focused on the Greenland ice
sheet, glaciers and ice caps in the GRENE Project from 2011, we
extended our research area to the ocean and coastal environments in the7

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Polar Science 27 (2021) 100632

community, by organizing workshops with local collaborators in Qaa­
naaq and Qeqertat. We also reported our activity in a symposium held in
Nuuk in 2019. The collaborations and conversations with residents
allowed us to identify relevant future research directions. Designing a
research project with involvement of a community is crucial to better
contribute to a sustainable future in Greenland and other regions in the
Arctic.

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Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgement
The authors thank GRENE and ArCS Greenland project members fortheir contributions in Qaanaaq. Kim Petersen and Sakiko Daorana pro­vided assistance with field activities and workshops in Qaanaaq. Lene
Kielsen Holm contributed to the session as part of Greenland Science
Week 2019. David Qujaukeitsoq, Ilannguaq Karlsen and Pivinnguaq
Morch acted as translators in the workshops. We thank Kumiko GotoAzuma for handling the ArCS Theme 2 activity as the principal inves­tigator. This study was funded by the Japanese Ministry of Education,
Culture, Sports, Science and Technology through the GRENE Arctic
Climate Research Project, ArCS (Arctic Challenge for Sustainability)(Program Grant Number JPMXD1300000000) and ArCS II Projects(JPMXD1420318865). The study was partially supported by Japan So­
ciety for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI Grant Number
JP16H02224. The research on Bowdoin Glacier was supported by Swiss
National Science Foundation through the project “Dynamic changes oftidewater outlet glaciers: Bowdoin glacier, Northwest Greenland” (SNSF
Grant 200020_169558).
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