[1] The circulation in a glacial fjord driven by a large tidewater glacier is investigated using a nonhydrostatic ocean general circulation model with a melt rate parameterization at the vertical glacier front. The model configuration and water properties are based on data collected in Sermilik Fjord near Helheim Glacier, a major Greenland outlet glacier. The approximately two-layer stratification of the fjord's ambient waters causes the meltwater plume at the glacier front to drive a "double cell" circulation with two distinct outflows, one at the free surface and one at the layers' interface. In summer, the discharge of surface runoff at the base of the glacier (subglacial discharge) causes the circulation to be much more vigorous and associated with a larger melt rate than in winter. The simulated "double cell" circulation is consistent, in both seasons, with observations from Sermilik Fjord. Seasonal differences are also present in the vertical structure of the melt rate, which is maximum at the base of the glacier in summer and at the layers' interface in winter. Simulated submarine melt rates are strongly sensitive to the amount of subglacial discharge, to changes in water temperature, and to the height of the layers. They are also consistent with those inferred from simplified one-dimensional models based on the theory of buoyant plumes. Our results also indicate that to correctly represent the dynamics of the meltwater plume, care must be taken in the choice of viscosity and diffusivity values in the model. Citation: Sciascia, R., F. Straneo, C. Cenedese, and P. Heimbach (2013), Seasonal variability of submarine melt rate and circulation in an East Greenland fjord,

The submarine melting of a vertical glacier front, induced by an intermediary circulation forced by periodic density variations at the mouth of a fjord, is investigated using a nonhydrostatic ocean general circulation model and idealized laboratory experiments. The idealized configurations broadly match that of Sermilik Fjord, southeast Greenland, a largely two layers system characterized by strong seasonal variability of subglacial discharge. Consistent with observations, the numerical results suggest that the intermediary circulation is an effective mechanism for the advection of shelf anomalies inside the fjord. In the numerical simulations, the advection mechanism is a density intrusion with a velocity which is an order of magnitude larger than the velocities associated with a glacier-driven circulation. In summer, submarine melting is mostly influenced by the discharge of surface runoff at the base of the glacier and the intermediary circulation induces small changes in submarine melting. In winter, on the other hand, submarine melting depends only on the water properties and velocity distribution at the glacier front. Hence, the properties of the waters advected by the intermediary circulation to the glacier front are found to be the primary control of the submarine melting. When the density of the intrusion is intermediate between those found in the fjord's two layers, there is a significant reduction in submarine melting. On the other hand, when the density is close to that of the bottom layer, only a slight reduction in submarine melting is observed. The numerical results compare favorably to idealized laboratory experiments with a similar setup.

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