UM Scientists Use New Approach to Reveal Function of Greenland’s Ice Sheet
http://news.umt.edu/2013/08/081513scie.aspx[font face=Serif][font size=5]UM Scientists Use New Approach to Reveal Function of Greenlands Ice Sheet[/font]
Aug. 15, 2013
[font size=3]MISSOULA Findings from a large-scale ice drilling study on the Greenland ice sheet by a team of University of Montana and University of Wyoming researchers may revise the models used to predict how ice sheets move.
Using a drill designed by Neil Humphrey, UW professor and co-author on the paper, the team melted 23 boreholes through the ice sheet to measure the pressure and flow conditions of the water under the ice. The drill was easily transported by helicopter and even could be carried short distances by six people.
Once the data was analyzed, the research team discovered that it didnt match up with the working hypotheses for water flow beneath the ice sheet. This led the scientists to surmise that there are other critical processes at work that had been missing one possibility being that as the ice sheet accelerates, the acceleration itself opens up space between the ice and bedrock and expands the drainage network.
This process is largely neglected in current interpretations, Meierbachtol said. We need to pull ourselves away from the narrow vision and start to explore some of the other options for transient growth.
[/font][/font]
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1235905