The formation of Mega Scale Glacial Lineations: insights into the mechanisms of ice stream flow

冰流是流动非常迅速的冰的走廊，代表着冰盖向海洋流失质量的主要动脉。因此，冰流行为对于任何试图预测全球变暖对极地冰块和海平面上升的影响的模型都是至关重要的。三种相互竞争的假说被提出来解释冰流运动，它们都集中在冰与冰床的相互作用上。大尺度冰川线条(MSGL)是在冰流下的冰床界面形成的地貌。虽然已经发展了一些理论，但它们的形成机制尚不清楚。然而，很明显，MSGL的形成代表了解开神秘的冰流动力学之谜的关键因素。换句话说，通过了解MSGL是如何形成的，将有可能阐明冰流运动的机制，从而增强分析气候变化对脆弱的极地冰团影响的模型的预测能力。该项目提议绘制并定量分析有史以来最大的MSGL数据集(数万个地貌)，来自世界各地的陆上和海底环境。将通过严格的统计分析以及最先进的地理信息系统和遥感技术，详细研究这些地貌的度量和空间分布。将形态参数的空间变异性与发现MSGL的古冰川河床的地形、地质和古地理的空间变异性进行比较。该项目还将以前所未有的详细程度描述MSGL的内部组成，并结合以前从未在研究单个冰川床中部署的技术。综合(形态测量学和沉积学)方法的结果将被用来检验这些地貌形成的假说和模型，并阐明冰床界面的过程。马泰奥·斯帕格诺洛在地理信息系统和遥感应用于冰川地貌学方面的专业知识和经验，再加上他对将技能扩展到冰川沉积学和冰川建模方面的浓厚兴趣，是保证这一新的调查员项目成功的关键因素。一批国际知名专家是项目合作伙伴，将支持倡导者的工作。

Ice streams are very fast flowing corridors of ice and represent the main arteries by which ice sheets lose mass to the ocean. Thus, ice stream behaviour is crucial to any models which attempt to predict the effect of global warming on polar ice masses and sea level rise. Three competing hypotheses have been suggested to explain ice stream motion, all centred on the interaction of the ice with its bed.Mega Scale Glacial Lineations (MSGL)are landforms that are formed at the ice-bed interface under ice streams. The mechanism of their formation is not known though some theories have been developed. However, it is clear that the formation of MSGL represents a crucial element in solving the puzzle of enigmatic ice stream dynamics. In other words, by understanding how MSGL form it will be possible to clarify the mechanism of ice stream motion, thus enhancing the predictive capability of models that analyze the effects of climate change on the vulnerable polar ice masses.This project proposes to map and quantitatively analyze the largest (tens of thousands landforms) dataset of MSGL ever created, from onshore and submarine settings from all over the world. The metrics and spatial distribution of these landforms will be studied in great detail with rigorous statistical analyses and state-of-the-art GIS and Remote Sensing techniques. The spatial variability of the morphometric parameters will be compared to that of the topography, geology and palaeo-geography of the palaeo-ice stream beds where MSGL are found in. The project will also characterize at an unprecedented level of details the internal composition of MSGL, with a combination of techniques never deployed before in the study of an individual glacial bedform. The results from the combined (morphometrical and sedimentological) approach will be used to test hypotheses and models of formation of these landforms and shed light on processes at the ice-bed interface. Ultimately, the quantitative results will be directly used to refine and develop numerical models of ice stream flow.Matteo Spagnolo's expertise and experience in GIS and Remote Sensing applied to glacial geomorphology, coupled with his strong interest in extending his skills into glacial sedimentology and ice modelling, are the essential ingredients that guarantee the success of this new investigator project. An array of international renowned experts are project partners and will support the work of the proponent.