Tidally controlled stick-slip discharge of a West Antarctic ice stream

• Published in: Science
• Main Authors: Bindschadler, RA, King, MA, Alley, RB, Anandakrishnan, S, Padman, L
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: x 2003
• Subjects: Earth Sciences; Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience; Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience not elsewhere classified; Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1087231; http://ecite.utas.edu.au/81798

A major West Antarctic ice stream discharges by sudden and brief periods of very rapid motion paced by oceanic tidal oscillations of about 1 meter. Acceleration to speeds greater than 1 meter per hour and deceleration back to a stationary state occur in minutes or less. Slip propagates at approximately 88 meters per second, suggestive of a shear wave traveling within the subglacial till. A model of an episodically slipping friction-locked fault reproduces the observed quasi-periodic event timing, demonstrating an ice stream's ability to change speed rapidly and its extreme sensitivity to subglacial conditions and variations in sea level.