At both locations, the long - term records show that summer warming has resulted in sustained mass loss, noted Shad O'Neel, head of the glacier research program at the USGS Alaska Science Center. (scientificamerican.com)
Robin Bell, a geophysicist at the Lamont - Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University, reported on satellite images indicating that a region of four subglacial lakes at the head of a glacier had initiated an ice stream, a fast - moving feature within an ice sheet that carries ice to the sea. (discovermagazine.com)
These dramatic changes appear to be the result of a combination of warmer air and ocean temperatures and the topography of the ocean floor at the head of the glacier. (science.sciencemag.org)