Greenland Geothermal Heat Flow Database and Map (Version 1)

Abstract. We compile, analyse and map all available geothermal heat flow measurements collected in and around Greenland into a new database of 419 sites and generate an accompanying spatial map. This database includes 290 sites previously reported by the International Heat Flow Commission (IHFC), for which we now standardize measurement and metadata quality. This database also includes 129 new sites, which have not been previously reported by the IHFC. These new sites consist of 88 offshore measurements and 41 onshore measurements, of which 24 are subglacial. We employ machine learning to synthesize these in situ measurements into a gridded geothermal heat flow model that is consistent across both continental and marine areas in and around Greenland. This model has a native horizontal resolution of 55 km. In comparison to five existing Greenland geothermal heat flow models, our model has the lowest mean geothermal heat flow for Greenland onshore areas (44 mW m–2). Our model’s most distinctive spatial feature is pronounced low geothermal heat flow (< 40 mW m–2) across the North Atlantic Craton of southern Greenland. Crucially, our model does not show an area of elevated heat flow that might be interpreted as remnant from the Icelandic Plume track. Finally, we discuss the substantial influence of paleoclimatic and other corrections on geothermal heat flow measurements in Greenland. The in-situ measurement database and gridded heat flow model, as well as other supporting materials, are freely available from the GEUS DataVerse (https://doi.org/10.22008/FK2/F9P03L; Colgan and Wansing, 2021).

[1]  S. Lebedev,et al.  The tilted Iceland Plume and its effect on the North Atlantic evolution and magmatism , 2021 .

[2]  J. Ebbing,et al.  Predicting Geothermal Heat Flow in Antarctica With a Machine Learning Approach , 2021, Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth.

[3]  P. Bons,et al.  Comment on “Exceptionally high heat flux needed to sustain the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream” by Smith-Johnsen et al. (2020) , 2021, The Cryosphere.

[4]  S. Willcocks,et al.  Thermal refraction: implications for subglacial heat flux , 2021, Journal of Glaciology.

[5]  O. M. Espinoza-Ojeda,et al.  A new database structure for the IHFC Global Heat Flow Database , 2021 .

[6]  P. Haas,et al.  East Antarctica magnetically linked to its ancient neighbours in Gondwana , 2021, Scientific Reports.

[7]  J. MacGregor,et al.  Topographic Correction of Geothermal Heat Flux in Greenland and Antarctica , 2021, Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface.

[8]  P. Knutz,et al.  Shallow gas and gas hydrate occurrences on the northwest Greenland shelf margin , 2020, Marine Geology.

[9]  J. Box,et al.  A first constraint on basal melt-water production of the Greenland ice sheet , 2020, Nature Communications.

[10]  Sukanta Roy,et al.  The Global Heat Flow Database: Release 2021 , 2021 .

[11]  G. Toyokuni,et al.  P Wave Tomography Beneath Greenland and Surrounding Regions: 1. Crust and Upper Mantle , 2020, Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth.

[12]  S. Goes,et al.  Continental lithospheric temperatures: A review , 2020 .

[13]  P. Haas,et al.  Sensitivity analysis of gravity gradient inversion of the Moho depth—a case example for the Amazonian Craton , 2020 .

[14]  Helene Seroussi,et al.  Exceptionally high heat flux needed to sustain the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream , 2020, The Cryosphere.

[15]  S. Franke,et al.  Comment on Exceptionally high heat flux needed to sustain the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream by S. Smith-Johnson et al., The Cryosphere, 14, 841–854, 2020 , 2020 .

[16]  F. Lucazeau,et al.  Analysis and Mapping of an Updated Terrestrial Heat Flow Data Set , 2019, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems.

[17]  Juan Carlos Afonso,et al.  A global reference model of the lithosphere and upper mantle from joint inversion and analysis of multiple data sets , 2019, Geophysical Journal International.

[18]  R. Greve.  Geothermal heat flux distribution for the Greenland ice sheet, derived by combining a global representation and information from deep ice cores , 2019 .

[19]  J. Afonso,et al.  Global Crustal Thickness and Velocity Structure From Geostatistical Analysis of Seismic Data , 2019, Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth.

[20]  I. Artemieva.  Lithosphere structure in Europe from thermal isostasy , 2019, Earth-Science Reviews.

[21]  J. Bojesen-Koefoed,et al.  The Upper Jurassic Blokelv-1 cored borehole in Jameson Land, East Greenland – an introduction , 2018, Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland Bulletin.

[22]  S. Lebedev,et al.  Widespread volcanism in the Greenland–North Atlantic region explained by the Iceland plume , 2018, Nature Geoscience.

[23]  Johannes Bouman,et al.  Earth tectonics as seen by GOCE - Enhanced satellite gravity gradient imaging , 2018, Scientific Reports.

[24]  D. Vaughan,et al.  Geothermal Heat Flux Reveals the Iceland Hotspot Track Underneath Greenland , 2018, Geophysical Research Letters.

[25]  J. Box,et al.  Physical Conditions of Fast Glacier Flow: 1. Measurements From Boreholes Drilled to the Bed of Store Glacier, West Greenland , 2018 .

[26]  J. Bendtsen,et al.  High geothermal heat flux in close proximity to the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream , 2018, Scientific Reports.

[27]  L. Stearns,et al.  Predicting the Geothermal Heat Flux in Greenland: A Machine Learning Approach , 2017 .

[28]  N. Olsen,et al.  LCS-1: A High-Resolution Global Model of the Lithospheric Magnetic Field Derived from CHAMP and Swarm Satellite Observations , 2017 .

[29]  L Mayer,et al.  BedMachine v3: Complete Bed Topography and Ocean Bathymetry Mapping of Greenland From Multibeam Echo Sounding Combined With Mass Conservation , 2017, Geophysical research letters.

[30]  I. Sasgen,et al.  Geodetic measurements reveal similarities between post–Last Glacial Maximum and present-day mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet , 2016, Science Advances.

[31]  Maik Thomas,et al.  Melting at the base of the Greenland ice sheet explained by Iceland hotspot history , 2016 .

[32]  Erwan Thébault,et al.  Building the second version of the World Digital Magnetic Anomaly Map (WDMAM) , 2016, Earth, Planets and Space.

[33]  D. Blankenship,et al.  Potential groundwater and heterogeneous heat source contributions to ice sheet dynamics in critical submarine basins of East Antarctica , 2016 .

[34]  Anne Nagel,et al.  Principles Of Glacier Mechanics , 2016 .

[35]  G. Destouni,et al.  Data evaluation and numerical modeling of hydrological interactions between active layer, lake and talik in a permafrost catchment, Western Greenland , 2015 .

[36]  Christian Hirt,et al.  Earth2014: 1 arc-min shape, topography, bedrock and ice-sheet models - Available as gridded data and degree-10, 800 spherical harmonics , 2015, Int. J. Appl. Earth Obs. Geoinformation.

[37]  John Paden,et al.  Radar attenuation and temperature within the Greenland Ice Sheet , 2015 .

[38]  S. Lebedev,et al.  Global Heterogeneity of the Lithosphere and Underlying Mantle: A Seismological Appraisal Based on Multimode Surface-Wave Dispersion Analysis, Shear-Velocity Tomography, and Tectonic Regionalization , 2015 .

[39]  M. Lüthi,et al.  Greenland Ice Sheet: dissipation, temperate paleo-firn and cryo-hydrologic warming , 2014 .

[40]  B. Smith,et al.  The Greenland Ice Mapping Project (GIMP) land classification and surface elevation data sets , 2014 .

[41]  Mai Winstrup,et al.  A first chronology for the North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling (NEEM) ice core , 2013 .

[42]  J. C. Jaeger,et al.  Application of the Theory Of Heat Conduction to Geothermal Measurements , 2013 .

[43]  B. Steinberger,et al.  Absolute plate motions in a reference frame defined by moving hot spots in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans , 2012 .

[44]  F. Lucazeau,et al.  Global heat flow trends resolved from multiple geological and geophysical proxies , 2011 .

[45]  H. Ármannsson,et al.  Geothermal research in Greenland , 2010 .

[46]  V. Damm.  The expedition of the Research Vessel "Polarstern" to the Arctic in 2010 (ARK-XXV/3) , 2010 .

[47]  C. Amante,et al.  ETOPO1 arc-minute global relief model : procedures, data sources and analysis , 2009 .

[48]  Lindsey Nicholson,et al.  Stratigraphic analysis of an ice core from the Prince of Wales Icefield, Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada, using digital image analysis: High-resolution density, past summer warmth reconstruction, and melt effect on ice core solid conductivity , 2008 .

[49]  G. Kattner.  The Expedition of the Research Vessel "Polarstern" to the Arctic in 2008 (ARKTIS-XXIII/2) , 2008 .

[50]  M. Storey,et al.  Timing and duration of volcanism in the North Atlantic Igneous Province: Implications for geodynamics and links to the Iceland hotspot , 2007 .

[51]  Dorthe Dahl-Jensen,et al.  Estimating the basal melt rate at NorthGRIP using a Monte Carlo technique , 2007, Annals of Glaciology.

[52]  Kelin Wang,et al.  Canadian Arctic Permafrost Observatories: Detecting contemporary climate change through inversion of subsurface temperature time series , 2006 .

[53]  25. REMANENT MAGNETIZATION AND MAGNETIC MINERALOGY IN DSDP LEG 37 OCEANIC BASALTS E.J. Schwarz and Y. Fujiwara, Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, Canada , 2006 .

[54]  C. Kinnard,et al.  Calibration of an ice-core glaciochemical (sea-salt) record with Sea-ice variability in the Canadian Arctic , 2006, Annals of Glaciology.

[55]  Kumar Hemant,et al.  Geological modeling of the new CHAMP magnetic anomaly maps using a geographical information system technique , 2005 .

[56]  S. Marshall,et al.  Simulation of Vatnajökull ice cap dynamics , 2005 .

[57]  Ralf Greve,et al.  Relation of measured basal temperatures and the spatial distribution of the geothermal heat flux for the Greenland ice sheet , 2005, Annals of Glaciology.

[58]  J. Baker,et al.  Long-lived postbreakup magmatism along the East Greenland margin: Evidence for shallow-mantle metasomatism by the Iceland plume , 2004 .

[59]  Dorthe Dahl-Jensen,et al.  Basal melt at NorthGRIP modeled from borehole, ice-core and radio-echo sounder observations , 2003, Annals of Glaciology.

[60]  A. Şengör,et al.  Rifts of the world , 2001 .

[61]  R. Ernst,et al.  Mantle plumes : their identification through time , 2001 .

[62]  F. Kalsbeek,et al.  Greenland from Archaean to Quaternary : Descriptive text to the 1995 geological map of Greenland, 1:2 500 000 , 2000 .

[63]  K. Mosegaard,et al.  Past temperatures directly from the greenland ice sheet , 1998, Science.

[64]  Blake,et al.  Penny ice cap cores, baffin island, canada, and the wisconsinan foxe dome connection: two states of hudson bay ice cover , 1998, Science.

[65]  Christopher R. J. Kilburn,et al.  Volcanoes of the World , 1997 .

[66]  K. Hutter,et al.  Large scale motion and temperature distributions in land-based ice shields; the Greenland Ice Sheet in response to various climatic scenarios , 1997 .

[67]  D. McKenzie,et al.  The effect of deglaciation on mantle melting beneath Iceland , 1996 .

[68]  M. Hansson.  The Renland ice core. A Northern Hemisphere record of aerosol composition over 120,000 years , 1994 .

[69]  O. Olesen,et al.  Ground temperature and related permafrost characteristics in west greenland , 1994 .

[70]  D. Fisher,et al.  Signal and noise in four ice-core records from the Agassiz Ice Cap, Ellesmere Island, Canada: details of the last millennium for stable isotopes, melt and solid conductivity , 1994 .

[71]  J. Royer,et al.  Revised plate motions relative to the hotspots from combined Atlantic and Indian Ocean hotspot tracks: Comment and Reply , 1994 .

[72]  Suzanne Hurter,et al.  Heat flow from the Earth's interior: Analysis of the global data set , 1993 .

[73]  J. Royer,et al.  Revised plate motions relative to the hotspots from combined Atlantic and Indian Ocean hotspot tracks , 1993 .

[74]  M. Funk,et al.  Mechanisms of fast flow in Jakobshavns Isbræ, West Greenland: Part I. Measurements of temperature and water level in deep boreholes , 1993, Journal of Glaciology.

[75]  H. Beltrami,et al.  Evidence for recent warming from perturbed geothermal gradients: examples from eastern Canada , 1992 .

[76]  Jean-Claude Mareschal,et al.  Recent warming in eastern Canada inferred from geothermal measurements , 1991 .

[77]  C. Beaumont,et al.  Thermal and Subsidence History of the Labrador and West Greenland Continental Margins , 1987 .

[78]  J. Walder,et al.  The physical basis of ice sheet modelling , 1987 .

[79]  A. Green,et al.  Alpha Ridge and iceland-products of the same plume? , 1986 .

[80]  F. Rolle.  Late Cretaceous - Tertiary sediments offshore central West Greenland: lithostratigraphy, sedimentary evolution, and petroleum potential , 1985 .

[81]  N. Gundestrup,et al.  Bore-Hole Survey at Dye 3, South Greenland , 1984, Journal of Glaciology.

[82]  W. J. Morgan.  Hotspot Tracks and the Early Rifting of the Atlantic , 1983 .

[83]  Y. Yen.  Review of Thermal Properties of Snow, Ice and Sea Ice, , 1981 .

[84]  A. J. Mansure,et al.  A vertical groundwater movement correction for heat flow , 1979 .

[85]  A. Gow,et al.  The Margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet at Isua , 1979, Journal of Glaciology.

[86]  H. Oeschger,et al.  An oxygen-isotope climatic record from the Devon Island ice cap, arctic Canada , 1977, Nature.

[87]  D. F. Classen.  Temperature profiles for the barnes ice cap surge zone , 1977, Journal of Glaciology.

[88]  A. Jessop,et al.  The world heat flow data collection, 1975 , 1976 .

[89]  J. Sass,et al.  HEAT FLOW AND SURFACE RADIOACTIVITY AT TWO SITES IN SOUTH GREENLAND. , 1972 .

[90]  F. Persoz,et al.  Helium in the thermal springs of Uncartoq, South Greenland , 1972 .

[91]  Geological map of Greenland , 1971, Polar Record.

[92]  G. Ferrara,et al.  Component parts of the World Heat Flow Data Collection , 1970 .

[93]  P. Dawes.  The bedrock geology under the Inland Ice: the next major challenge for Greenland mapping , 1969 .

[94]  A. Lachenbruch.  Preliminary geothermal model of the Sierra Nevada , 1968 .

[95]  J. Weertman.  Comparison between measured and theoretical temperature profiles of the Camp Century, Greenland, Borehole , 1968 .

[96]  Robert M. Davis.  APPROACH ROADS, GREENLAND 1960-1964. , 1967 .

[97]  H. Roethlisberger.  THE APPLICABILITY OF SEISMIC REFRACTION SOUNDINGS IN PERMAFROST NEAR THULE, GREENLAND , 1961 .

[98]  C. Lees.  On the Shapes of the Isogeotherms under Mountain Ranges in Radio-Active Districts , 1910 .

[99]  E O Hovey,et al.  Geological Society of America , 1922, Nature.