Modelling the dynamics of ice sheets

• Published in: Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment
• Main Author: Hindmarsh, Richard C.A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publications 1993
• Subjects: General Earth and Planetary Sciences; Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous); Geography, Planning and Development; Ice Sheet; Ice Shelves
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/030913339301700401; http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/030913339301700401

Although the mechanics and qualitative dynamics of grounded ice sheets and ice shelves are fairly well understood, this is not true for the transition between the two. In consequence, the existence and nature of any grounding line instability have yet to be established. Further problems are understanding how uncertainties in input parameters affect results, and obtaining optimal techniques for parameter inference using ice-sheet models.