scholarly journals Frequency response of ice streams

2012 ◽  
Vol 468 (2147) ◽  
pp. 3285-3310 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Rosie Williams ◽  
Richard C. A. Hindmarsh ◽  
Robert J. Arthern
Keyword(s):  
Frequency Response ◽  
Dynamical Response ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Ice Streams ◽  
Ice Dynamics ◽  
Low Frequencies ◽  
High Frequencies ◽  
Grounding Line ◽  
Propagation Properties ◽  
Inland Ice

Changes at the grounding line of ice streams have consequences for inland ice dynamics and hence sea level. Despite substantial evidence documenting upstream propagation of frontal change, the mechanisms by which these changes are transmitted inland are not well understood. In this vein, the frequency response of an idealized ice stream to periodic forcing in the downstream strain rate is examined for basally and laterally resisted ice streams using a one-dimensional, linearized membrane stress approximation. This reveals two distinct behavioural branches, which we find to correspond to different mechanisms of upstream velocity and thickness propagation, depending on the forcing frequency. At low frequencies (centennial to millennial periods), slope and thickness covary hundreds of kilometres inland, and the shallow-ice approximation is sufficient to explain upstream propagation, which occurs through changes in grounding-line flow and geometry. At high frequencies (decadal to sub-decadal periods), penetration distances are tens of kilometres; while velocity adjusts rapidly to such forcing, thickness varies little and upstream propagation occurs through the direct transmission of membrane stresses. Propagation properties vary significantly between 29 Antarctic ice streams considered. A square-wave function in frontal stress is explored by summing frequency solutions, simulating some aspects of the dynamical response to sudden ice-shelf change.

scholarly journals Dynamical processes involved in the retreat of marine ice sheets

2001 ◽  
Vol 47 (157) ◽  
pp. 271-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard C.A. Hindmarsh ◽  
E. Le Meur
Keyword(s):  
Ice Sheets ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Ice Streams ◽  
Antarctic Ice Sheet ◽  
West Antarctic Ice Sheet ◽  
West Antarctic ◽  
Grounding Line ◽  
Neutral Equilibrium ◽  
Generally True

AbstractMarine ice sheets with mechanics described by the shallow-ice approximation by definition do not couple mechanically with the shelf. Such ice sheets are known to have neutral equilibria. We consider the implications of this for their dynamics and in particular for mechanisms which promote marine ice-sheet retreat. The removal of ice-shelf buttressing leading to enhanced flow in grounded ice is discounted as a significant influence on mechanical grounds. Sea-level rise leading to reduced effective pressures under ice streams is shown to be a feasible mechanism for producing postglacial West Antarctic ice-sheet retreat but is inconsistent with borehole evidence. Warming thins the ice sheet by reducing the average viscosity but does not lead to grounding-line retreat. Internal oscillations either specified or generated via a MacAyeal–Payne thermal mechanism promote migration. This is a noise-induced drift phenomenon stemming from the neutral equilibrium property of marine ice sheets. This migration occurs at quite slow rates, but these are sufficiently large to have possibly played a role in the dynamics of the West Antarctic ice sheet after the glacial maximum. Numerical experiments suggest that it is generally true that while significant changes in thickness can be caused by spatially uniform changes, spatial variability coupled with dynamical variability is needed to cause margin movement.

scholarly journals Sensitivity of the dynamics of Pine Island Glacier, West Antarctica, to climate forcing for the next 50 years

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 1699-1710 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Seroussi ◽  
M. Morlighem ◽  
E. Rignot ◽  
J. Mouginot ◽  
E. Larour ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Major Contributor ◽  
West Antarctica ◽  
Climatic Impact ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Ice Dynamics ◽  
Surface Mass ◽  
Grounding Line

Abstract. Pine Island Glacier, a major contributor to sea level rise in West Antarctica, has been undergoing significant changes over the last few decades. Here, we employ a three-dimensional, higher-order model to simulate its evolution over the next 50 yr in response to changes in its surface mass balance, the position of its calving front and ocean-induced ice shelf melting. Simulations show that the largest climatic impact on ice dynamics is the rate of ice shelf melting, which rapidly affects the glacier speed over several hundreds of kilometers upstream of the grounding line. Our simulations show that the speedup observed in the 1990s and 2000s is consistent with an increase in sub-ice-shelf melting. According to our modeling results, even if the grounding line stabilizes for a few decades, we find that the glacier reaction can continue for several decades longer. Furthermore, Pine Island Glacier will continue to change rapidly over the coming decades and remain a major contributor to sea level rise, even if ocean-induced melting is reduced.

scholarly journals Ice shelf internal reflection horizons reveal ice provenance, dynamics, surface accumulation and oceanic melt

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inka Koch ◽  
Reinhard Drews ◽  
Daniela Jansen ◽  
Steven Franke ◽  
Vjeran Visnjevic ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Shear Zones ◽  
Ultra Wideband ◽  
Internal Layers ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Ice Streams ◽  
Catchment Scale ◽  
Ice Dynamics ◽  
Ice Shelves ◽  
Wideband Radar ◽  
Narrow Belt

<p>Ice shelves are widely known to slow the transfer of Antarctic grounded ice to the ocean, especially if their flow is decelerated by local pinning points. Their longevity is influenced by variations in ice dynamics, surface accumulation and oceanic conditions in the ice shelf cavity. This is reflected in the ice shelf structure, which can be characterized by the shape of internal radar reflection horizons.</p><p>We aim to map the internal ice shelf stratigraphy of ice shelves, starting with the narrow belt of ice-shelves in the Dronning Maud Land area. The final goal will be to evaluate these as a spatiotemporal archive of ice provenance and ice dynamics. The bulk of the data presented here were collected with AWI’s airborne multi frequency ultra-wideband radar and we combine these new observations with airborne and ground-based radar surveys from previous years. We present a consistent set of internal radar isochrones on a catchment scale for the Roi Baudoin area including the Ragnhild ice streams, the grounding-zone, the iceshelf and multiple ice rises.  Using pattern matching technique we can link isochrones across different ice rises in the area, and hence provide first observational constraints on how ice rises jointly react to changes in atmospheric and oceanographic forcings. We also find a number of interesting features including dynamically induced dips in shear zones, truncating layers at the ice-shelf base, and the development of a meteoric ice layer distinguishing advected from newly accumulated ice in the iceshelf. The time series provided by radar observations over the last 10 years also offers the potential to map temporal changes. We use ice-flow modelling to provide age constraints for some internal layers and delineate portions within the shelf as a function of their advection history, hence marking areas of differing rheologies within the shelf. Taken together, this case study on a catchment scale is a primer to unravel the information stored in the isochronal stratigraphy of coastal Antarctica and contributes to international efforts (e.g., SCAR AntArchitecture)  of mapping stratigraphy on ice sheet scales.</p>

scholarly journals Mass balance of the northeast sector of the Greenland ice sheet: a remote-sensing perspective

2000 ◽  
Vol 46 (153) ◽  
pp. 265-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Rignot ◽  
Guillaume Buscarlet ◽  
Beáta Csathó ◽  
Sivaprasad Gogineni ◽  
William Krabill ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Snow Accumulation ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry ◽  
Model Predictions ◽  
Grounding Line ◽  
Ice Production ◽  
Inland Ice

AbstractSynthetic-aperture radar interferometry data and airborne ice-sounding radar (ISR) data are employed to obtain modern estimates of the inland ice production from Nioghalvfjerdsbræ (NB) and Zachariae Isstrøm (ZI), the two largest glaciers draining the northeast sector of the Greenland ice sheet. Ice fluxes are measured at the grounding line (14.2 ±1 km3 ice a−1 for NB and 10.8 ±1 km3 ice a−1 for ZI) with an ice thickness deduced from ice-shelf hydrostatic equilibrium, and along an ISR profile collected upstream of the grounding line (14.3 ± 0.7 km3 ice a−1 for NB and 11.6 ± 0.6 km3 ice a−1 for ZI). Balance fluxes calculated from a map of snow accumulation and model predictions of surface melt are 11.9 ± 2 km3 ice a−1 for NB and 10.0 ± 2 km3 ice a−1 for ZI at the grounding line, and 12.2 and 10.3 km3 ice a−1, respectively, at the ISR line. The two glaciers therefore exhibit a negative mass balance equivalent to 14% of their balance flux, with a ±12% uncertainty. Independently, we detect a retreat of the grounding line of NB between 1992 and 1996 which is larger at the glacier center (920 ± 250 m) than on the sides (240 ± 50 m). The corresponding ice-thinning rates (2 ± 1 m a−1 at the glacier center and 0.6 ± 0.3 m a−1 on the sides) are too large to be accommodated by temporal changes in ablation or accumulation, and must be due to dynamic thinning.

scholarly journals On the Disintegration of Ice Shelves: the Role of Thinning

1982 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 146-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. J. Hughes
Keyword(s):  
Weak Links ◽  
Ice Melting ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Ice Streams ◽  
Ice Shelves ◽  
Ross Ice Shelf ◽  
Tidal Pumping ◽  
Grounding Line ◽  
Converging Flow

It is proposed that an ice shelf disintegrates when its calving front retreats faster than its grounding line. This paper examines the role of ice thinning in grounding-line retreat. Thinning occurs as a result of creep spreading and ice melting. Thinning by creep is examined for the general regime of bending converging flow in an ice shelf lying in a confined embayment, and at the grounding lines of ice streams that supply the ice shelf and ice rises where the ice shelf is grounded on bedrock. Thinning by melting is examined at these grounding lines for tidal pumping and for descent of surface melt water into strandline crevasses, where concentrated melting is focused at the supposed weak links that connect the ice shelf to its embayment, its ice streams, and its ice rises. Applications are made to the Ross Ice Shelf.

scholarly journals Isostatic Equilibrium Grounding Line Between The West Antarctic Ice Sheet And The Ross Ice Shelf

1979 ◽  
Vol 24 (90) ◽  
pp. 500 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. R. Bentley ◽  
L. Greischar
Keyword(s):  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Shelf Area ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Ice Streams ◽  
West Antarctic Ice Sheet ◽  
Ross Ice Shelf ◽  
Isostatic Rebound ◽  
West Antarctic ◽  
Grounding Line ◽  
Eastern Half

Abstract Taking various retreat-rates for the presumed grounded ice sheet in the Ross embayment during Wisconsin time, as calculated by Thomas (Thomas and Bentley, 1978), and assuming a time constant of 4400 years for isostatic rebound, a sea-floor uplift of 100±50 m still to be expected in the grid western part of the Ross Ice Shelf can be calculated. The expected uplift diminishes from grid west to grid east, and is probably negligible in the eastern half of the shelf area. There are extensive areas near the present grounding line where the water depth beneath the shelf is less than 100 m, so that uplift would lead to grounding. As grounding occurred, the neighboring ice shelf would thicken, causing grounding to advance farther. This process would probably extend the grounding line to a position running grid north-eastward across the shelf from the seaward end of Roosevelt Island, deeply indented by the extensions of the present ice streams. Floating ice would remain in the grid south-eastern half of the shelf.

scholarly journals Numerical modelling of ice-sheet dynamics across the Vostok subglacial lake, central East Antarctica

2000 ◽  
Vol 46 (153) ◽  
pp. 197-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Mayer ◽  
Martin J. Siegert
Keyword(s):  
Lake Water ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Particle Flow ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Flow Paths ◽  
Ice Dynamics ◽  
Subglacial Lake ◽  
Grounding Line ◽  
Ice Sheet Dynamics

AbstractA numerical model of the ice-sheet/ice-shelf transition was used to investigate ice-sheet dynamics across the large subglacial lake beneath Vostok station, central East Antarctica. European Remote-sensing Satellite (ERS-1) altimetry of the ice surface and 60 MHz radio-echo sounding (RES) of the ice-sheet base and internal ice-sheet layering were used to develop a conceptual flowline across the ice sheet, which the model used as input. The model calculates horizontal and vertical velocities and stresses, from which particle flow paths can be obtained, and the ice-sheet temperature distribution. An inverse approach to modelling was adopted, where particle flow paths were forced to match those identified from internal RES layering. Results show that ice dynamics across the inflow grounding line are similar to an ice-sheet/ice-shelf transition. Model particle flow paths match internal RES layering when ice is (a) taken away from the ice base across the first 2 km of the flowline over the lake and (b) added to the base across the remainder of the lake. We contend that the process causing this transfer of ice is likely to be melting of ice and freezing of water at the ice–water interface. Other explanations, such as enhanced rates of accumulation over the grounding line, or three-dimensional convergent/divergent flow of ice are inconsistent with available measurements. Such melting and refreezing would be responsible for circulation and mixing of at least the surface layers of the lake water. Our model suggests that several tens of metres of refrozen “basal ice” would accrete from lake water to the ice sheet before the ice regrounds.

scholarly journals The supply of subglacial meltwater to the grounding line of the Siple Coast, West Antarctica

2012 ◽  
Vol 53 (60) ◽  
pp. 267-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.P. Carter ◽  
H.A. Fricker
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Variability ◽  
Freshwater Flux ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variability ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Ice Streams ◽  
Ross Ice Shelf ◽  
Lake Volume ◽  
Grounding Line ◽  
Subglacial Lakes

AbstractRecent satellite studies have shown that active subglacial lakes exist under the Antarctic ice streams and persist almost to their grounding lines. When the lowest-lying lakes flood, the water crosses the grounding line and enters the sub-ice-shelf cavity. Modeling results suggest that this additional freshwater influx may significantly enhance melting at the ice-shelf base. We examine the spatial and temporal variability in subglacial water supply to the grounding lines of the Siple Coast ice streams, by combining estimates for lake volume change derived from Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) data with a model for subglacial water transport. Our results suggest that subglacial outflow tends to concentrate towards six embayments in the Siple Coast grounding line. Although mean grounding line outflow is ~60m3 s–1 for the entire Siple Coast, maximum local grounding line outflow may temporarily exceed 300 m3 s–1 during the synchronized flooding of multiple lakes in a hydrologic basin. Variability in subglacial outflow due to subglacial lake drainage may account for a substantial portion of the observed variability in freshwater flux out of the Ross Ice Shelf cavity. The temporal variability in grounding line outflow results in a net reduction in long-term average melt rate, but temporary peak melting rates may exceed the long-term average by a factor of three.

scholarly journals Geometry and ice dynamics of the Darwin–Hatherton glacial system, Transantarctic Mountains

2017 ◽  
Vol 63 (242) ◽  
pp. 959-972
Author(s):  
METTE K. GILLESPIE ◽  
WENDY LAWSON ◽  
WOLFGANG RACK ◽  
BRIAN ANDERSON ◽  
DONALD D. BLANKENSHIP ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Ice Thickness ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Ice Dynamics ◽  
Ross Ice Shelf ◽  
Basal Ice ◽  
Grounding Line ◽  
Ice Flows ◽  
Ice Velocity ◽  
The Mean

ABSTRACTThe Darwin–Hatherton Glacial system (DHGS) connects the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) with the Ross Ice Shelf and is a key area for understanding past variations in ice thickness of surrounding ice masses. Here we present the first detailed measurements of ice thickness and grounding zone characteristics of the DHGS as well as new measurements of ice velocity. The results illustrate the changes that occur in glacier geometry and ice flux as ice flows from the polar plateau and into the Ross Ice Shelf. The ice discharge and the mean basal ice shelf melt for the first 8.5 km downstream of the grounding line amount to 0.24 ± 0.05 km3 a−1 and 0.3 ± 0.1 m a−1, respectively. As the ice begins to float, ice thickness decreases rapidly and basal terraces develop. Constructed maps of glacier geometry suggest that ice drainage from the EAIS into the Darwin Glacier occurs primarily through a deep subglacial canyon. By contrast, ice thins to <200 m at the head of the much slower flowing Hatherton Glacier. The glaciological field study establishes an improved basis for the interpretation of glacial drift sheets at the link between the EAIS and the Ross Ice Sheet.

scholarly journals The Dynamics of Marine Ice Sheets

1979 ◽  
Vol 24 (90) ◽  
pp. 167-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert H. Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Ice Sheets ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Ice Streams ◽  
Ice Shelves ◽  
The North ◽  
West Antarctic ◽  
Grounding Line ◽  
Ice Sheet Dynamics

AbstractMarine ice sheets rest on land that, for the most part, is below sea-level. Ice that flows across the grounding line, where the ice sheet becomes afloat, either calves into icebergs or forms a floating ice shelf joined to the ice sheet. At the grounding line there is a transition from ice-sheet dynamics to ice-shelf dynamics, and the creep-thinning rate in this region is very sensitive to sea depth; rising sea-level causes increased thinning-rates and grounding-line retreat, falling sea-level has the reverse effect. If the bedrock slopes down towards the centre of the ice sheet there may be only two stable modes: a freely-floating ice shelf or a marine ice sheet that extends to the edge of the continental shelf. Once started, collapse of such an ice sheet to form an ice shelf may take place extremely rapidly. Ice shelves which form in embayments of a marine ice sheet, or which are partially grounded, have a stabilizing influence since ice flowing across the grounding line has to push the ice shelf past its sides. Retreat of the grounding line tends to enlarge the ice shelf, which ultimately may become large enough to prevent excessive outflow from the ice sheet so that a new equilibrium grounding line is established; removal of the ice shelf would allow retreat to continue. During the late-Wisconsin glacial maximum there may have been marine ice sheets in the northern hemisphere but the only current example is the West Antarctic ice sheet. This is buttressed by the Ross and Ronne Ice Shelves, and if climatic warming were to prohibit the existence of these ice shelves then the ice sheet would collapse. Field observations suggest that, at present, the ice sheet may be advancing into parts of the Ross Ice Shelf. Such advance, however, would not ensure the security of the ice sheet since ice streams that drain to the north appear to flow directly into the sea with little or no ice shelf to buttress them. If these ice streams do not flow over a sufficiently high bedrock sill then they provide the most likely avenues for ice-sheet retreat.

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