Basal crevasses on the Larsen C Ice Shelf, Antarctica: Implications for meltwater ponding and hydrofracture

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: McGrath, D, Steffen, K, Rajaram, H, Scambos, T, Abdalati, W, Rignot, E
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: eScholarship, University of California 2012
• Subjects: Amery; Cabinet Inlet; Getz; Antarc*; Antarctica; Ice Shelf; Ice Shelves
• Online Access: http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/9m65b7mc

A key mechanism for the rapid collapse of both the Larsen A and B Ice Shelves was meltwater-driven crevasse propagation. Basal crevasses, large-scale structural features within ice shelves, may have contributed to this mechanism in three important ways: i) the shelf surface deforms due to modified b...