Control of Ice-Till Interactions on Evolution and Stability of Ice Streams and Ice Sheets

该奖项为一个为期三年的项目提供支持，该项目旨在研究冰犁相互作用对冰流和冰盖演化和稳定性的控制。作为该项目的一部分，一个经过广泛测试的数值冰流模型将与一个新的物理框架合并，用于处理控制冰流开始、演化和停止的次冰流过程。这个框架被称为不排水塑料床(UPB)模型，是基于对西南极B冰流下的物理条件的观察。该模式将应用于B和E冰流的流域，以检验4个重要假设：1)该模式可以再现观测到的冰流速度分布的主要特征；2)该模式可能产生相对突然的冰流停止；3)在不久的将来，南极西部冰流的显著不平衡可能是由内部不稳定引起的；4)冰流的不平衡也可能是由冰面温度升高或积雪速率加倍引起的。这项拟议的研究将在冰盖建模科学方面取得重要的新进展，同时对冰流行为做出预测，这些预测可能在不久的将来变得可测试。

This award provides support for a three-year project to study the control of ice-till interactions on the evolution and stability of ice streams and ice sheets. As part of this project, an extensively testednumerical ice stream model will be merged with a new physical framework for treatment of sub-ice stream processes which control the commencement, evolution, and cessation of ice streaming. This framework, called the undrained-plastic -bed (UPB) model, is based on observations of physical condition beneath Ice Stream B, in West Antarctica. This model will be applied to the drainage basins of Ice Streams B and E to test four important hypotheses: 1) that the model can reproduce the main features of the observed ice stream velocity distribution; 2) that the model may produce a relatively abrupt ice stream stoppage; 3) that a significant imbalance of the West Antarctic ice streams may be caused in the near future by internal instabilities and 4) that imbalance of the ice streams may also be caused by either an increase in ice surface temperature or a doubling of snow accumulation rates. The proposed research will provide an important new advancement in the science of ice sheet modeling, while yielding predictions on ice stream behavior that may become testable in the near future.