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Vogel et al. 2005
Vogel, S.W., Tulaczyk, S., Kamb, B., Engelhardt, H., Carsey, F.D., Behar, A.E., Lane, A.L. and Joughin, I. (2005). Subglacial conditions during and after stoppage of an Antarctic Ice Stream: Is reactivation imminent?. Geophysical Research Letters 32: doi: 10.1029/2005GL022563. issn: 0094-8276.

Borehole observations from the base of the West-Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) reveal the presence of a 10 to 15 m thick accretionary basal ice layer in the upstream area of Kamb Ice Stream (KIS). This ice layer has formed over a time of several thousand years by freeze-on of subglacial water to the ice base and has recorded during this time basal conditions upstream of its current location. Analysis of samples and videos sequences from boreholes drilled to the bottom of KIS confirms that KIS-stoppage was due to basal freeze-on and that relubrication of the ice stream is well underway. These results further suggest that ice stream cyclicity may be shorter than expected (1000s of years) and that a restart of KIS may be imminent within decades to centuries.

BACKGROUND DATA FILES

Abstract

Keywords
Cryosphere, Ice streams, Cryosphere, Thermodynamics (1011, 3611, 8411), Cryosphere, Thermal regime, Cryosphere, Ice sheets, Geographic Location, Antarctica
Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
http://www.agu.org/journals/gl/
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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