How can geomorphology facilitate a better understanding of glacier and ice sheet behaviour?

Glaciers and ice sheets are an integral part of Earth's system, advancing and retreating in response to changes in climate. Clues about the past, present and future behaviour of these ice masses are found throughout current and former glaciated landscapes. In this commentary, we outline recent...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Earth surface processes and landforms 2024-09, Vol.49 (12), p.3677-3683
Main Authors: Jones, Richard S., Miller, Lauren E., Westoby, Matthew J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Climate change
Climate models
Environmental impact
Geomorphology
glacial geology
glacial geomorphology
Glaciation
glacier
Glacier flow
Glaciers
Glaciology
Ice
ice sheet
Ice sheets
Knowledge management
Landforms
modelling
Numerical models
Remote sensing
sedimentology
Systems stability
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Summary:Glaciers and ice sheets are an integral part of Earth's system, advancing and retreating in response to changes in climate. Clues about the past, present and future behaviour of these ice masses are found throughout current and former glaciated landscapes. In this commentary, we outline recent scientific advances from a collection of articles in which geomorphological evidence is used to inform us about the behaviour of glaciers and ice sheets across a range of spatial (landform to continent) and temporal (seasons to millennia) scales. Through a diversity of approaches including field measurements, remote sensing and numerical modelling, these studies build on an extensive background literature to deepen our understanding of how ice flows, how glaciers and ice sheets respond to climate change, and of the processes of ice advance and retreat and the stability of the system. Further integration of knowledge across the fields of geomorphology and glaciology will have tangible benefits for managing the societal and environmental impacts of glacier change and for improved projections of sea‐level rise over the coming decades to centuries. Geomorphology can facilitate a better understanding of glacier and ice sheet behaviour in several ways: by moderating glacial response to climate change; by providing rates of glacier change and sensitivity to climate; as information of ice flow properties and basal conditions; and as constraints for ice sheet modelling.
ISSN:0197-9337
1096-9837
DOI:10.1002/esp.5932