Quantifying Long-Term Glacial Erosion in Antarctica with Numerical Modeling and Thermochronology

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Ice sheet erosion of topography and their response to climate change is largely unknown. The ability of ice sheets to respond rapidly to small changes in climate is one of the most alarming observations in the Earth sciences in recent years. A fuller understanding of how glaciers erode topography and the response of ice sheets to climate change requires observations of glacial erosion, as well as better predictive models of glacial dynamics. In this study we will test the hypotheses that: (1) glacial erosion is tightly linked to state-of-the-science predictions of sub-ice hydrology, calving processes, and ice rheology; (2) glacial erosion of underlying bedrock depends on the basal ice sliding velocity; and (3) that temperate glaciation increases the topographic relief of mountains. We will use an integration of models and data including: (a) modification of a parallelized 3D visco-plastic and ice microphysics numerical models to simulate glacier erosion over short and long (~>101 yr) time scales, and (b) evaluation model physics using observations from bedrock thermochronology data.