NSFGEO-NERC: Ice-Shelf Instability Caused by Active Surface Meltwater Production, Movement, Ponding and Hydrofracture
- Lead PI: Laura A. Stevens
-
Unit Affiliation: Marine and Polar Geophysics, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO)
- June 2019 - May 2023
- Inactive
- Antarctica ; George VI Ice Shelf
- Project Type: Research
DESCRIPTION: The evolution of surface and shallow subsurface meltwater across Antarctic ice shelves has important implications for their (in)stability, as demonstrated by the 2002 rapid collapse of the Larsen B Ice Shelf. It is vital to understand the causes of ice-shelf (in)stability because ice shelves buttress against the discharge of inland ice and therefore influence ice-sheet contributions to sea-level rise. Ice-shelf break-up may be triggered by stress variations associated with surface meltwater movement, ponding, and drainage. These variations may cause an ice shelf to flex and fracture. This four-year project will provide key geophysical observations to improve understanding of ice-shelf meltwater and its effects on (in)stability. The work will be conducted on the George VI Ice Shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula, where hundreds of surface lakes form each summer.
OUTCOMES: Field data will be used to validate and extend the team's approach to modelling ice-shelf flexure and stress, and possible "Larsen-B style" ice-shelf instability and break-up.