The Response of Antarctic Ice Streams to Tidal Forcing ...

• Main Author: Warburton, Katarzyna
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository 2022
• Subjects: Fluid dynamics; Ice sheets; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.17863/cam.89743; https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/342322

The majority of the ice flowing from the Antarctic interior makes its way to the ocean through fast-flowing ice streams, or glaciers. Understanding what controls the speed of these streams is extremely important in predicting the overall response of ice sheets to changing climatic conditions, and hence in predicting future sea-level rise. A major factor determining the flux of grounded ice towards the ocean is the rate at which the ice slides over its bed, which is sensitive to conditions at the base of the ice such as shear stress and water pressure, and the material making up the bed. However, it remains difficult to measure and predict the evolution of these variables over the scale of ice sheets, and to accurately model their effect on sliding speed. In this thesis, I present novel methods to constrain and model the basal dynamics of ice, particularly motivated by observations of tidally-driven acceleration of Antarctic glaciers. In the first chapter, I review recent observations of spatial and temporal ...