Cryospheric and Polar Processes Seminar: Twila Moon

Seasonal ice dynamics on the Greenland Ice Sheet

Dr. Twila Moon - CIRES visiting fellow, NSIDC/CIRES

With air and ocean temperatures rising around the Greenland Ice Sheet, ice mass loss has accelerated over recent decades. Understanding how continued warming will influence the ice sheet, however, requires a complete understanding of ice dynamics over short (days to weeks) to long (decades) timescales. Twila Moon will talk about recent work to understand seasonal glacier velocities across the ice sheet. The research identified several distinct seasonal patterns. The differences in behavior suggest that some glaciers are quite sensitive to terminus advance and retreat, but seasonal velocity changes on most glaciers are likely connected to subglacial hydrology. Furthermore, seasonal development of the subglacial hydrologic network varies across regions. She will also discuss evidence for longer sea ice free periods leading to sustained glacier speedup and how current work at NSIDC will help us answer more questions on changing glacier velocities.