Friction, basal hydrology and their interactions : a modelling perspective
Speaker: Olivier Gagliardini, Researcher, Grenoble, France
Abstract:
During the last decades, Greenland surface melt has shown an increase both in intensity and spatial extent. Part of this water probably reaches the bedrock and enhances the glacier speed, advecting larger volume of ice into the ablation area. In the context of a warming climate, this mechanism will contribute to the future rate of retreat and thinning of the land-terminating glaciers of Greenland. Complex couplings, implying both positive and negative feedbacks, prevail between surface mass balance, ice flow, basal hydrology and the evolution of the glacier geometry. Larger amount of melt water might increase or decrease the mean ice flow of a glacier, depending on the capacity of the basal hydrology network to evacuate this surplus of water, which in turn will influence the surface crevassing and the ability of water to reach the bedrock at higher elevations.
About the seminar:
This seminar is offered by the research environments geography and hydrology at the Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo.
The seminar is open for all interested in the topic of the seminar.