The full programme book (PDF) - Royal Geographical Society

THEME 5: ICE SHEET DYNAMICS
Time, transgressions and topography: how do classic themes in Quaternary
Science illuminate the data acquisition revolution in ice-sheet glaciology
Richard C.A Hindmarsh
British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge
In the past twenty years, satellite, airborne and ground-based observations have
revolutionised our understanding of the physical glaciology of the Antarctic and Greenland
ice-sheets. While providing a snapshot of current change, these observations pose
questions that can only be answered by understanding change over the internal timescales
of the ice-sheets, which span centuries to millennia. A particular issue is the motion
of the grounding line over such time scales, whose understanding can be used to validate
predictive models.
Here I present examples of how Quaternary Research approaches complement modern
snapshot observations in the goal of predicting Antarctic ice-sheet contributions to sealevel
change. ‘Time’ is addressed by showing how ice internal stratigraphy, detected by
radar layers, can be used to date change in the ice-sheet; ‘Transgressions’ looks at how
changes in relative sea-level induced by isostatic-adjustment play a role in ice-sheet
grounding line dynamics; and ‘Topography’ considers how glacigenic landforms
illuminate the workings of the lubrication zone at the base of the ice-stream.
Keywords: Antarctic; ice-streams; grounding line; drumlins; ice-rises; isostasy