Sentences with phrase «thickness of the ice sheet»

Developing an understanding of how ice sheets are changing over time requires precise measurements of the thickness of the ice sheets and accurate mapping of the bedrock below.

«The ice shelf generally breaks at points that are between a half and full thickness of the ice sheet from the edge,» summarises Christmann.

At the Dome A site in East Antarctica — roughly the size of the state of California — the base layer of refrozen ice accounted for up to half the total thickness of the ice sheet, and 24 percent of the area covered by ice.

Radar images show that water under the base of the ice sheet refreezes into ice, creating a new bottom layer that accounts for up to half the total thickness of the ice sheet in some locations.

From an altitude of just over 700 km, CryoSat will precisely monitor changes in the thickness of sea ice and variations in the thickness of the ice sheets on land.

Not exact matches

the south - bound expedition had cleared that vast plain of floating ice which flows down from the great mountains of the interior and covers the southern part of Ross Sea throughout an area above 20,000 square miles with an ice sheet approximately 800 feet in thickness, and had begun to climb the heights which form the mountainous embayment at the head of Ross Sea.

Although CryoSat - 2 is designed to measure changes in the ice sheet elevation, these can be translated into horizontal motion at the grounding line using knowledge of the glacier and sea floor geometry and the Archimedes principle of buoyancy — which relates the thickness of floating ice to the height of its surface.

Ambient geothermal heat emanating up from the seafloor melts the underside of the ice sheet at a rate of several penny thicknesses per year.

With a volume of more than 700,000 cubic miles and an average thickness of 4,000 feet, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) holds enough water to raise sea levels by 15 to 20 feet — and it is already sweating off 130 billion tons of ice per yeIce Sheet (WAIS) holds enough water to raise sea levels by 15 to 20 feet — and it is already sweating off 130 billion tons of ice per yeice per year.

The lakes are fed by geothermal heat that seeps up from the Earth's interior, melting away the bottom of the ice sheet at a rate of several dime - thicknesses per year and liberating water from the ice.

Previous observations of the thickness of Antarctic sea ice produced a mean draught — the depth between the waterline and the bottom of the ice sheet — of around 1 meter; the new work gives a mean draught of over 3 meters.

Many older models of Greenland assumed that its massive ice sheet sat on bedrock that was relatively flat, even though scientists did not know the full thickness of the ice.

If everything goes according to plan, the radar will be turned on and will start to collect data on the thickness of glaciers and ice sheets just three days post-launch.

In some parts of Antarctica, ice sheets have been losing 30 feet a year in thickness since 2003, according to the study....

NASA and the USGS have used MRO instruments to analyze the vertical structure and thickness of buried ice sheets, which preserve a detailed record of the Red Planet's past and could provide future human explorers with an easily - accessible water supply.

Inferring Histories of Accumulation, Ice Flow, and Ice Thickness from Internal Layers in Ice Sheets.

The ice sheet's thickness makes its temperature much more resistant to change than the six inches of snow that might fall on your driveway during a winter snowstorm.

So unless the perimeter of the Greenland ice sheet is the exact same thickness as the entire ice sheet (say 3 km on average), an area loss there, of 15 %, will produce a much smaller % volume loss, than say if this area loss were smack dab in the middle of the Greenland ice sheet.

[Response: The thickness of the greenland ice sheet is ~ 2000 m on average (don't quote me, that's a ballpark estimate).

why not a sawtooth, characteristic of a relaxation oscillator, where something (voltage on a capacitor, ice sheet thickness) accumulates until it reaches a tipping point (neon lamp trigger voltage, basal warming), then suddenly the state changes?

... the confusion came most likely from a confusion in definitions of what is the permanent ice sheet, and what are glaciers, with the «glaciers» being either dropped from the Atlas entirely or colored brown (instead of white)... there is simply no measure — neither thickness nor areal extent — by which Greenland can be said to have lost 15 % of its ice.

It is a thin layer of 2 - 3 meters thickness — unlike the 3,000 meter thick Greenland Ice Sheet.

Ice shelf - A floating slab of ice of considerable thickness extending from the coast (usually of great horizontal extent with a level or gently sloping surface), often filling embayments in the coastline of the ice sheeIce shelf - A floating slab of ice of considerable thickness extending from the coast (usually of great horizontal extent with a level or gently sloping surface), often filling embayments in the coastline of the ice sheeice of considerable thickness extending from the coast (usually of great horizontal extent with a level or gently sloping surface), often filling embayments in the coastline of the ice sheeice sheets.

(Right) Extents and thicknesses of the Greenland Ice Sheet and western Canadian and Iceland glaciers at their minimum extent during the last interglacial, shown as a multi-model average from three ice modeIce Sheet and western Canadian and Iceland glaciers at their minimum extent during the last interglacial, shown as a multi-model average from three ice modeice models.

The ice sheet's thickness makes its temperature much more resistant to change than the six inches of snow that might fall on your driveway during a winter snowstorm.

Although CryoSat - 2 is designed to measure changes in the ice sheet elevation, these can be translated into horizontal motion at the grounding line using knowledge of the glacier and sea floor geometry and the Archimedes principle of buoyancy — which relates the thickness of floating ice to the height of its surface.

These hydrates are likely in a sensitive equilibrium that could be disrupted by small changes in pressure, caused by variations in the thickness of the overlying ice sheets.

Researchers used data from IceBridge's ice - penetrating radar — the Multichannel Coherent Radar Depth Sounder, or MCoRDS, which is operated by the Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kan. — to determine ice thickness and sub-glacial terrain, and images from satellite sources such as Landsat and Terra to calculate velociice - penetrating radar — the Multichannel Coherent Radar Depth Sounder, or MCoRDS, which is operated by the Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kan. — to determine ice thickness and sub-glacial terrain, and images from satellite sources such as Landsat and Terra to calculate velociIce Sheets at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kan. — to determine ice thickness and sub-glacial terrain, and images from satellite sources such as Landsat and Terra to calculate velociice thickness and sub-glacial terrain, and images from satellite sources such as Landsat and Terra to calculate velocity.

Recent research indicates it may be related to increasing friction at the base of the ice sheets slowing ablation and allowing greater thicknesses.

You are certainly right about the thickness of the Antarctic snow, and the point goes double for the ice sheet — that's why fluctuations in the AIS can cause tens of meters of sea level rise.

5.3.7 In the Polar Regions, the main effect foreseen is a reduction in thickness and extent of glaciers, ice sheets, sea ice, and permafrost, and associated impacts on infrastructures, ecosystems, and traditional ways of life.

This thin ice cap is very different from the Greenland Ice Sheet where the enormous thickness gives it a very slow response time and the type of process you are suggesting can operaice cap is very different from the Greenland Ice Sheet where the enormous thickness gives it a very slow response time and the type of process you are suggesting can operaIce Sheet where the enormous thickness gives it a very slow response time and the type of process you are suggesting can operate.

If hydrates are present beneath the Antarctic ice sheet, they could be destabilized by reducing the pressure, as a result of the reduction of the ice thickness.

On time scales of years to centuries, the largest changes in tides around the ice sheets are likely to be caused by changes in the extent and thickness of ice shelves.

That is the discovery made by scientists using data from CryoSat - 2, the European probe that has been measuring the thickness of Earth's ice sheets and glaciers since it was launched by [continue reading...]

With a step change in temperature at the surface of the ice sheet, and assuming a constant thickness of 2 km, the time required for the mid-point of the ice sheet to reflect only 50 % absorption of the energy reflecting the temperature increase is... 159.5 years.

http://www.livescience.com/24168-glacier-volume-sea-level-rise.html «Researchers calculated the ice thickness for 171,000 glaciers worldwide, excluding the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, which hold the bulk of Earth's frozen water.

Researchers calculated the ice thickness for 171,000 glaciers worldwide, excluding the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, which hold the bulk of Earth's frozen water.

Further, there has been an almost worldwide reduction in glacial mass and extent in the 20th century; melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet has recently become apparent; snow cover has decreased in many Northern Hemisphere regions; sea ice thickness and extent have decreased in the Arctic in all seasons, most dramatically in spring and summer; the oceans are warming; and sea level is rising due to thermal expansion of the oceans and melting of land Ice Sheet has recently become apparent; snow cover has decreased in many Northern Hemisphere regions; sea ice thickness and extent have decreased in the Arctic in all seasons, most dramatically in spring and summer; the oceans are warming; and sea level is rising due to thermal expansion of the oceans and melting of land ice thickness and extent have decreased in the Arctic in all seasons, most dramatically in spring and summer; the oceans are warming; and sea level is rising due to thermal expansion of the oceans and melting of land iceice