Vast ice depression in Dålk Glacier, East Antarctica

Flow dynamics of Byrd Glacier, East Antarctica

Force-balance calculations on Byrd Glacier, East Antarctica, reveal large spatial variations in the along-flow component of driving stress with corresponding sticky spots that are stationary over time. On the large scale, flow resistance is partitioned between basal (�80%) and lateral (�20%) drag. Ice flow is due mostly to basal sliding and concentrated vertical shear in the basal ice layers, i...

Pan–ice-sheet glacier terminus change in East Antarctica reveals sensitivity of Wilkes Land to sea-ice changes

The dynamics of ocean-terminating outlet glaciers are an important component of ice-sheet mass balance. Using satellite imagery for the past 40 years, we compile an approximately decadal record of outlet-glacier terminus position change around the entire East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) marine margin. We find that most outlet glaciers retreated during the period 1974-1990, before switching to ad...

Ocean mixing beneath Pine Island Glacier ice shelf, West Antarctica

Ice shelves around Antarctica are vulnerable to an increase in ocean-driven melting, with the melt rate depending on ocean temperature and the strength of flow inside the ice-shelf cavities. We present measurements of velocity, temperature, salinity, turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate, and thermal variance dissipation rate beneath Pine Island Glacier ice shelf, West Antarctica. These mea...

Holocene Climate Changes Recorded in an East Antarctica Ice Core

Ice core derived proxy climate records from Antarctica suggest that decadal , century and possibly even millennial-scale temperature variations in East and West Antarctica may be temporally asynchronous. For example, records from the Antarctic Peninsula indicate a strong 20th century warming in which the high plateau of East Antarctica has not participated. Similarly, a recent Neoglacial coolin...

Ice-Bed Coupling Beneath and Beyond Ice Streams: Byrd Glacier, Antarctica