Modelling the impact of surface melt on the hydrology and dynamics of the Greenland Ice Sheet ...
Increasing surface runoff from the Greenland Ice Sheet due to a warming climate not only accelerates ice mass loss by altering surface mass balance, but may also lead to increased dynamic losses. This is because surface melt draining to the bed can reduce ice-bed coupling, leading to faster ice flow...
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Format: | Thesis |
Language: | English |
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Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository
2018
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Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.17863/cam.20372 https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/273345 |
Summary: | Increasing surface runoff from the Greenland Ice Sheet due to a warming climate not only accelerates ice mass loss by altering surface mass balance, but may also lead to increased dynamic losses. This is because surface melt draining to the bed can reduce ice-bed coupling, leading to faster ice flow. Understanding the impact of surface melt on ice dynamics is important for constraining the contribution of the Greenland Ice Sheet to sea level rise. The aim of this thesis is to numerically model the influence of surface runoff on ice velocities. Three new models are presented: an updated supraglacial hydrology model incorporating moulin and crevasse drainage, along with lake drainage over the ice surface via channel incision; an ice sheet model implementing a numerically efficient formulation of ice flow; an adjoint code of the ice flow model based on automatic differentiation. Together with a subglacial hydrology model, these represent the key components of the ice sheet system. The supraglacial hydrology ... |
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