CMG: Landscape/Ice-Sheet Self-Organization

由前冰盖形成的地形提供了有关重要的线索，但对冰块底部的条件和过程知之甚少。 这些条件控制着冰盖形成、移动和储存水的速度，以及它们如何应对和参与全球气候变化。 以前在冰盖下的地区往往会在冰流的方向上受到惊人的冲刷，并且通常具有高度流线型的山丘（drumlin）。 本研究项目研究这种独特的地貌的自发出现，从移动的冰，水和沉积物在大的空间和时间尺度上的动态相互作用。 该项目的目标是开发一个详细的数学模型，作为一种工具，以更好地了解自然生产的鼓和其他特点的地形所产生的冰盖。这个研究项目是对大型复杂地理系统进行数学建模的一个例子，有望促进对影响冰盖对全球气候的反应和参与的基本过程和条件的理解。 这种应对措施产生了直接的实际后果，从海平面变化到水文变化，对居住在沿海地区或依赖高山冰川作为淡水来源的大部分人产生了世界性影响。 这项工作将提高我们对冰川地形、基础过程和条件的理解，更广泛地说，将提高我们对冰盖和地球气候系统相互依赖性的理解。

The terrain shaped by former ice sheets provides clues about important, poorly understood conditions and processes at the base of ice masses. These conditions control how fast ice sheets build up, move, and store water, and how they respond to, and participate in, global climate change. Areas that were formerly under ice sheets tend to be strikingly scoured in the direction of ice flow and often feature highly streamlined hills (drumlins). This research project studies the spontaneous emergence of such distinctive landforms from the dynamic interaction of moving ice, water, and sediment over large spatial and temporal scales. The goal of the project is to develop a detailed mathematical model as a tool to better understand the spontaneous production of drumlins and other characteristic landforms produced by ice sheets. This research project, an example of mathematical modeling of large, complex geosystems, promises to advance understanding of basal processes and conditions that affect ice sheet response to, and participation in, global climate. This response has direct practical consequences, ranging from changes in sea level to changes in hydrology, with worldwide effects on the large segments of humanity residing in coastal areas or relying on alpine glaciers for fresh water sources. The work will improve our understanding of glacially produced terrain, of basal processes and conditions, and more generally, of the interdependence of ice sheets and the earth climate system.