Title: Deflated, Glacial thinning stories from Antarctica
Abstract: Response of the Antarctic Ice Sheet to projected warming remains a significant uncertainty in sea level rise projections. By extending the observational record of ice sheets, we can provide understanding of past mechanisms and feedbacks of ice sheet retreat. Understanding the past helps to reduce uncertainty in projections of future change. By targeting strategic locations around the margins of the AIS, where glacial sediments are deposited on mountains, we record the transient evolution of the ice surface elevation immediately prior to the satellite observation period. Using cosmogenic surface exposure chronologies from sites around Antarctica we quantitatively constrain (i) past rates of ice thinning; (ii) total magnitudes of ice elevation change; and (iii) the absolute timing of ice discharge and thinning events in these sensitive regions. Our new ice thinning histories inform high-resolution, sector-scale numerical glacier model experiments, in which we will seek to determine drivers of ice discharge events.
In this talk, Jamey will set the scene by reviewing the existing knowledge of the past Antarctic Ice Sheet and present an exciting first look at data from recent field work along the David, Byrd and Thwaites Glaciers, three of the largest glacier basins on the planet. Jamey will also discuss ongoing collaborative work with New Zealand scientists and highlight future opportunities using new techniques on hard-won samples from Antarctica, currently held at OSU’s Polar Rock Repository at the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center. After the talk, join Jamey for a tour of the Polar Rock Repository.
For hybrid attendance, please email bertolo.7@osu.edu