Ice melting and meltwater plumes near glacier grounding lines
This presentation will give a broad introduction to the physics of ice melting in freshwater lakes and polar oceans, highlighting challenges inherent to related laboratory experiments, numerical simulations, and field observations. I will list some of the outstanding questions linked to under-ice boundary-layer turbulence and present some of the large-scale impacts of inaccurate ice-melting predictions on climate projections. In the second half of the talk, I will discuss some recent results from our group on the physics of meltwater plumes within glacier grounding zones, which is the region where the grounded ice comes afloat. The retreat of glaciers is disproportionately controlled by melting near grounding lines. I will describe both the local hydrodynamics, which are controlled by melt-induced upslope plumes, and the melt-rate patterns, using results from turbulence-resolving simulations.
Contact Nathanaël Machicoane for more information or to schedule a discussion with the seminar speaker.