Sentences with phrase «base of the glacier»
Meanwhile, ocean water seeps beneath the ice shelf and washes up against the base of the glacier.
scientificamerican.com
But scientists increasingly attribute much of the observed grounding line retreat — particularly in West Antarctica — to the influence of warmer ocean water seeping beneath the ice shelves and lapping against the bases of glaciers, melting the ice from the bottom up.
He said something — likely meltwater at the base of the glacier — must have lubricated the ice to speed its flow down the mountain.
This smooth layer coating the rock at the base of glaciers may influence how fast the glaciers slide.
Instead, it is a distinct layer deposited onto the surface of the rock at the base of the glacier.
«It is pretty hard to get to the base of a glacier to see what's going on there, but the glacial polish can tell us about the composition of the gunk on the bottoms of glaciers and when the polish was formed.»
Roberts found that when warm water melts Totten from below, it causes the base of the glacier that's usually grounded on the seafloor to float.
Research over the past couple of decades has shown there is flowing water at the base of glaciers.
Geothermal heat flux can contribute to basal melt and so facilitate sliding at the base of the glacier.
They also trap surface water, and can divert surface streams to the base of the glacier.
The shape of the cavity beneath the tongue controls the access of deep warm seawater to the base of the glacier.
These glaciers are generally drained by supraglacial and englacial (within the glacier) meltwater channels, and meltwater channels at the base of the glacier are rare [3, 30].
For ice streaming sections of large outlet glaciers (in Antarctica as well) there is always water at the base of the glacier that helps lubricate the flow.
The combination of melting at the base of the glacier and the weight of ice and snow above also leads to sudden avalanches and icefalls.
This mechanism relies on meltwater reaching the glacier base via moulins and reducing the friction at the base of the glacier.
The other half of the story is at the base of these glaciers.
This circumpolar deep water, which is relatively warm and salty compared to other parts of the Southern Ocean, has warmed and shoaled in recent decades, and can melt ice at the base of glaciers which reduces friction and allows them to flow more freely.
But scientists increasingly attribute much of the observed grounding line retreat — particularly in West Antarctica — to the influence of warmer ocean water seeping beneath the ice shelves and lapping against the bases of glaciers, melting the ice from the bottom up.
Meanwhile, ocean water seeps beneath the ice shelf and washes up against the base of the glacier.
Those forces are the delivery of meltwater to the base of the glacier, when a basal conduit system is poorly developed.
However, the velocity on average is low at 100 m / year and the base of the glacier is quite high.
They report in the journal Science that a succession of aerial surveys combined with multiple satellite observations has established that the base of the glacier is being eroded rapidly by a mix of warmer ocean water and increasing amounts of meltwater from the surface of the Greenland ice sheet.
When cold surface water no longer sinks into the depths, a deeper layer of warm ocean water can travel across the continental shelf and reach the bases of glaciers, retaining its heat as the cold waters remain above.
Large glaciers in Greenland are melting at three times the rate of just several years ago, and water collecting at the base of the glaciers is encouraging further disintegration.