Document Actions
Global Climate Connections
Drainages of subglacial lakes and linkages to ice streams suggest that sub-ice water is an under-appreciated elment of the earth system.
The linkage of subglacial lakes with the onset of rapid ice flow indicates that subglacial lakes and the associated hydrologic systems may be an important factor in the drainage and collapse of ice sheets.
Scientific questions related to global climate connections will be addressed by deciphering the historical record in cores collected around the continental margins to assess the spatial and temporal distribution of outburst deposits. These events would then be linked to onshore and offshore landforms suggestive of erosion due to outburst floods. Sedimentary records will be used to estimate freshwater inputs and their impact on ocean circulation. Oceanic sensitivity to subglacial hydrological processes such as dramatic outbursts floods as well as steady state fluxes across grounding zones will be tested using models.
In addition, the response of subglacial lakes to changes in ice thickness and vice versa will be modeled. Of particular interest is the threshold conditions required to drive these changes. The recovery of terrestrial, marine, and oceanographic records of outburst floods is a key need.
Further definition of the role of subglacial water in global climate will improve our understanding of how these processes affect the global cryosphere and climate system. The importance of freshwater outbursts and their effect on Southern Ocean circulation, deep-water formation, shelf sedimentation, and biological productivity will be clarified.
Connections.....The Long Version
Scientific questions related to global climate connections:
-
What is the impact of subglacial water on Southern Ocean circulation?
-
What is the impact of subglacial water on deep-water formation?
-
What is the impact of subglacial melt water floods on continental shelf sedimentation and marine biological productivity?
Selected Publications: to be added...