Workshop on Antarctic Surface Hydrology and Future Ice-shelf Stability

冰架是冰川的漂浮部分，终止于海洋。 它们在南极洲周边很常见。 表面融水在冰架表面或附近的积累可能在冰架崩溃中发挥作用，从而导致地面冰的加速损失和海平面上升。最近的研究表明，目前融水在南极洲表面的生成和流动比以前认为的更广泛，预计还会增加。 因此，越来越需要解决的作用，地表水的冰架行为的预测。虽然已经取得了很大进展，但对水在冰架崩溃中的作用的理解仍处于起步阶段。该奖项支持一个研讨会，该研讨会将汇集来自多个学科的专家，共同促进对南极地表水文及其在未来冰架稳定性中的作用的理解。 该研讨会将汇集美国和国际科学家在冰盖动力学，冰川水文学，气候学和其他学科的专业知识，以确定关键的知识差距，并推动社会对回答基本问题，如：什么气候动力学负责在南极洲表面融水生成？是什么控制着南极冰架上融水池的时空分布？融水是在哪里产生的，它今天在哪里形成池塘，这将如何改变这个世纪？融水将如何影响冰架？地表水文学将如何影响本世纪的海平面？ 讨论情况将载入一份讲习班报告和审查文件，并将广泛分发。

Ice shelves are the floating portions of glaciers that terminate in the ocean. They are common around the periphery of Antarctica. The accumulation of surface meltwater on or near the surface of ice shelves can play a role in ice-shelf collapse, which leads to accelerated loss of grounded ice and sea-level rise. Recent studies have showed that present-day meltwater generation and movement across the surface of Antarctica is more widespread than previously thought and is expected to increase. Consequently, there is a growing need to address the role of surface water in forecasts of ice-shelf behavior. While much progress has been made, understanding of the role of water in ice-shelf collapse is still in its infancy. This award supports a workshop that will bring together experts from multiple disciplines that, together, can advance understanding of Antarctic surface hydrology and its role in the future stability of ice shelves. This workshop will bring together U.S. and international scientists with expertise in ice-sheet dynamics, glacial hydrology, climatology, and other disciplines to identify critical knowledge gaps and move the community towards answering fundamental questions such as: What climate dynamics are responsible for surface meltwater generation in Antarctica? What controls the spatiotemporal distribution of meltwater ponds on Antarctic ice shelves? Where is meltwater generated, where does it pond today, and how will this change this century? How will meltwater impact ice shelves? How will surface hydrology impact sea-level this century? The deliberations will be captured in a workshop report and review paper that will be broadly distributed.