Glaciers are one of the most powerful forces shaping our local landscape. As glaciers flow downhill from mountains to the lowlands, they erode, transport, and deposit materials, forming a great array of glacial landforms. They can erode mountains, and change their morphology. Large glaciers and ice sheets can deposit great swathes of sands and gravels, […]
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The pattern of velocity across the surface of an ice stream is complex, and varies between ice streams. It is captured by surficial structures, such as crevasses and longitudinal flow structures (also known as flow stripes, flow lines, and streak lines)[20]. In places, they can be traced for > 100 km. They form on valley
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Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica is currently the focus of a major scientific campaign. Why is Thwaites Glacier of so much interest, however? How much ice is there, and how much would sea levels rise if it all melted? Thwaites Glacier is roughly the size of UK (176 x103 km2). The glacier terminus is nearly
What is the ice volume of Thwaites Glacier? Read More »
Ice streams are corridors of fast-flowing ice within ice sheets that are flanked on either side by slowly moving ice1. Palaeo-ice streams are ice streams that existed in former ice sheets2,3, such as the continental ice sheets that grew during the last Ice Age. Glaciologists know that these palaeo-ice streams existed as they left a
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Please see the following work: Glasser, N.F., B.J. Davies, J.L. Carrivick, A. Ròdes, M.J. Hambrey, J.L. Smellie and E. Domack (2014). Ice-stream initiation, duration and thinning on James Ross Island, northern Antarctic Peninsula. Quaternary Science Reviews 86, 78-88. Download the Glasser et al. 2014 Preprint. The following is a shorter, simpler version of the paper.
Ice stream initiation on the northern Antarctic Peninsula Read More »
Investigating Pine Island Glacier | Why is Pine Island Glacier important? | Pine Island Glacier ice shelf | Pine Island Glacier: the longer term view | Conclusions | References | Comments | Investigating Pine Island Glacier A fast-flowing ice stream Pine Island Glacier is one of the largest ice streams in Antarctica. It flows, together
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Sea floor landforms | The formation of Mega Scale Glacial Lineations | Mega Scale Glacial Lineations in Antarctica | References | Comments | Sea floor landforms The sea floor around Antarctica holds a great deal of information about past glacial behaviour, and by analysing the glacial landforms here, it is possible to obtain a great
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Pre-Quaternary Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet evolution | Quaternary glaciation of the Antarctic Peninsula | Last Glacial Maximum | Antarctic Peninsula Ice streams | References | Comments | This section is largely taken from Davies et al. 2012 (Quaternary Science Reviews)[1], and summarises Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet evolution throughout the Cenozoic, Last Glacial Maximum and into
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What is an ice stream? | Ice streams around Antarctica | Siple Coast ice streams | Ice stream structures | Ice stream geomorphology | References | Comments | What is an ice stream? Ice streams are corridors of fast flow within an ice sheet (ca. 800 metres per year). They discharge most of the ice
