Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 6 April 1990:
Vol. 248. no. 4951, pp. 57 - 59
DOI: 10.1126/science.248.4951.57
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Articles

Physical Conditions at the Base of a Fast Moving Antarctic Ice Stream

Hermann Engelhardt 1, Neil Humphrey 1, Barclay Kamb 1, and Mark Fahnestock 1

1 Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125

Boreholes drilled to the bottom of ice stream B in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet reveal that the base of the ice stream is at the melting point and the basal water pressure is within about 1.6 bars of the ice overburden pressure. These conditions allow the rapid ice streaming motion to occur by basal sliding or by shear deformation of unconsolidated sediments that underlie the ice in a layer at least 2 meters thick. The mechanics of ice streaming plays a role in the response of the ice sheet to climatic change.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Laurentide ice streaming on the Canadian Shield: A conflict with the soft-bedded ice stream paradigm?.
C. R. Stokes and C. D. Clark (2003)
Geology 31, 347-350
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Retreat signature of a polar ice stream: sub-glacial geomorphic features and sediments from the Ross Sea, Antarctica.
S. S. Shipp, J. S. Wellner, and J. B. Anderson (2002)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications 203, 277-304
   Abstract »    PDF »
Clast-fabric development in a shearing granular material: Implications for subglacial till and fault gouge.
T. S. Hooyer and N. R. Iverson (2000)
Geological Society of America Bulletin 112, 683-692
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Architectural element analysis applied to glacial deposits: Internal geometry of a late Pleistocene till sheet, Ontario, Canada.
J. I. Boyce and N. Eyles (2000)
Geological Society of America Bulletin 112, 98-118
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Northern Hemisphere Ice-Sheet Influences on Global Climate Change.
P. U. Clark, R. B. Alley, and D. Pollard (1999)
Science 286, 1104-1111
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Pleistocene Collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.
R. P. Scherer, A. Aldahan, S. Tulaczyk, G. Possnert, H. Engelhardt, and B. Kamb (1998)
Science 281, 82-85
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Subglacial erosion, deposition and deformation associated with deformable beds.
J. K. Hart and J. K. Hart (1995)
Progress in Physical Geography 19, 173-191
   Abstract »    PDF »
Flow Mechanism of Glaciers on Soft Beds.
N. R. Iverson, N. R. Iverson, B. Hanson, R. LeB. Hooke, and P. Jansson (1995)
Science 267, 80-81
   Abstract »    PDF »
Satellite Radar Interferometry for Monitoring Ice Sheet Motion: Application to an Antarctic Ice Stream.
R. M. Goldstein, R. M. Goldstein, H. Engelhardt, B. Kamb, and R. M. Frolich (1993)
Science 262, 1525-1530
   Abstract »    PDF »
Changes in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.
R. B. Alley, R. B. ALLEY, and I. M. WHILLANS (1991)
Science 254, 959-963
   Abstract »    PDF »
Satellite-Image-Derived Velocity Field of an Antarctic Ice Stream.
R. A. Bindschadler, R. A. BINDSCHADLER, and T. A. SCAMBOS (1991)
Science 252, 242-246
   Abstract »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)