Sentences with phrase «ice discharge into»

Such accelerated flow leads to increased ice discharge into the ocean, but the relevant dynamical processes are not properly understood nor included in continental ice - sheet models, the main difficulty being the treatment of grounding - line migration in response to increased melting of ice by the ocean.

«Konrad and colleagues have extended a method that has promise for future monitoring of ice discharge into the ocean on a continent - wide scale,» Ryan Walker, a NASA ice researcher, wrote in an accompanying review piece.

The melting of a rather small ice volume on East Antarctica's shore could trigger a persistent ice discharge into the ocean, resulting in unstoppable sea - level rise for thousands of years to come.

Not exact matches

The cracking of the ice or the falling of pieces into the sea makes a noise like breakers or a distant discharge of guns, which may often be heard a short distance.

Studying surging glaciers could also offer insights into grander - scale ice flows with global consequences: the movements of the ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland, which can change abruptly, altering the ice discharges that affect sea level.

Dr Gudmundsson said: «Although floating ice shelves have only a modest impact on of sea - level rise, ice from Antarctica's interior can discharge into the ocean when they collapse.

For scientific purposes, the Antarctic ice sheet is often divided into catchment basins so that comparative measurements can be taken to work out how the ice in each basin is changing and discharging ice to the oceans.

A new NASA - led study has discovered an intriguing link between sea ice conditions and the melting rate of Totten Glacier, the glacier in East Antarctica that discharges the most ice into the ocean.

«If that happens, the glacier's flow could be significantly destabilized, causing it to discharge even more ice into the ocean,» he said.

It currently discharges enough ice into the surrounding ocean to fill Lake Erie in just over a week.

Writing in Nature Climate Change, two scientists from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) say the melting of quite a small volume of ice on the East Antarctic shore could ultimately trigger a discharge of ice into the ocean which would result in unstoppable sea - level rise for thousands of years ahead.

More back - of - the - napkin trivia — two trillion tons of ice over 5 years is roughly equivalent to the total discharge of the Mackenzie River, which flows directly into the Arctic basin, over a 6 year period (annual mean of ~ 10,000 cms).

The margins usually slope more steeply, and most ice is discharged through fast - flowing ice streams or outlet glaciers, in some cases into the sea or into ice shelves floating on the sea.

Nearly all ice shelves are in Antarctica, where most of the ice discharged seaward flows into ice shelves.

This «grounding line» is very important: Ice that sits on terra firma is thicker than floating ice, and melting of this ice would discharge more liquid water into the sIce that sits on terra firma is thicker than floating ice, and melting of this ice would discharge more liquid water into the sice, and melting of this ice would discharge more liquid water into the sice would discharge more liquid water into the sea.

These approaches, however, haven't taken into account some physical processes that can quickly increase ice sheet discharge, such as the collapse of terminal ice cliffs and the breakup of floating ice shelves caused by a process known as hydrofracturing.

Scientists have recently observed major changes in these glaciers: several have broken up at the ocean end (the terminus), and many have doubled the speed at which they are retreating.2, 5 This has meant a major increase in the amount of ice and water they discharge into the ocean, contributing to sea - level rise, which threatens low - lying populations.2, 3,5 Accelerated melting also adds freshwater to the oceans, altering ecosystems and changing ocean circulation and regional weather patterns.7 (See Greenland ice sheet hotspot for more information.)

It is driven by poorly understood processes occurring at the ice - ocean interface, such as subglacial discharge into the ocean, turbulent plume dynamics, submarine melting, and iceberg calving.

These rapid changes are the result of increased discharge from grounded ice into the ocean and from increased ice melting, which more than outweigh increases in surface accumulation.