Browsing by Author "McCormack, Felicity S."

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Modeling the Deformation Regime of Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica, Using a Simple Flow Reaction for Ice Anisotropy (ESTAR)
(Wiley; American Geophysical Union (AGU), 2022-02-21) McCormack, Felicity S.; Warner, Roland C.; Seroussi, Helene; Dow, Christine F.; Roberts, Jason L.; Treverrow, Adam
ce deformation dominates the evolution of ice shelf flow and the slow-moving regions in the interior of ice sheets. However, deformation may be poorly represented in large-scale ice sheet models that use the Glen flow relation, due to its questionable applicability to the steady-state flow of anisotropic ice that prevails in ice sheets, having been derived from secondary creep rates of isotropic ice. We assess the deformation regimes of Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica, using the Glen and “Empirical Scalar Tertiary Anisotropy Regime”, (ESTAR) flow relations, the latter being derived from steady-state deformation rates of anisotropic ice. For grounded ice, the character of the flow relation determines the contribution of deformation to overall flow, with ESTAR producing greater bed-parallel shear deformation than the standard Glen flow relation. The ESTAR experiments show larger basal shear stress maxima than the standard Glen experiment because ESTAR treats the responses to simple shear stresses and compression stresses differently, reducing the role of lateral and longitudinal stresses in momentum balance. On the Thwaites Glacier Tongue, ESTAR provides the best match to observed speeds by accounting for the differing effects of stresses on ice flow. Our results highlight the importance of the numerical description of anisotropy, particularly: In regions of transition from deformation-dominated to sliding-dominated flow; in the approach to the grounding line, and across ice shelves. Given the importance of these locations in determining mass flux into the ocean, our results have implications for projections of sea level change from Antarctic ice loss.
Totten Glacier subglacial hydrology determined from geophysics and modeling
(Elsevier, 2020-02-01) Dow, Christine F.; McCormack, Felicity S.; Young, Duncan A.; Greenbaum, Jamin S.; Roberts, Jason L.; Blankenship, Donald D.
Aurora Subglacial Basin (ASB), which feeds Totten Glacier, is a marine basin lying below sea level and contains up to 3.5 m of global sea level equivalent. Rates of future sea level rise from this area are primarily dependent on the stability of Totten Ice Shelf and the controls on ice flow dynamics upstream of the grounding line, both of which may be influenced by subglacial hydrology. We apply the GlaDS subglacial hydrology model to ASB to examine whether the spatial patterns of distributed and efficient drainage systems impact the dynamics of Totten Glacier. We determine the most appropriate model configuration from our series of sensitivity tests by comparing the modeled basal water pressure and water depth results with specularity content data. Those data are derived from ICECAP radar surveys over the same region and represent regions of basal water accumulation. The best match between simulated basal hydrology properties and specularity content shows a strong correspondence in regions of distributed water in the ASB troughs for both water depth and water pressure, but weak correspondence between water depth and specularity content near the grounding line. This may be due to the presence of several large channels draining over the grounding line into the head of Totten Ice Shelf, which are likely not as well represented in the specularity content data as distributed systems. These channels may have a significant impact on melt, and therefore the stability, of Totten Ice Shelf. Within ASB, regions of high water pressure and greater water accumulation correspond well with regions of faster ice flow, suggesting some control of basal hydrology on ice dynamics in this region.