Derived Quantities: A Coupled Dynamic/Thermodynamic Ice Sheet Model

This award is for support for a program of research involving the use of inverse modeling to derive information from the measured configuration of an ice sheet to yield important information about the conditions both at the bed and within the ice column. It is proposed to convert a column-averaged model to a column- integrated model that accounts explicitly for internal thermodynamics and variations of material properties that depend on this internal temperature field. An existing finite-element 3- D temperature solver will be coupled with an existing finite- element map-plane continuity solver. The result will allow more detailed analysis of existing field data within the context of the assumptions of the model. This improved model will be used to derive quantities describing the basal conditions of the Antarctic ice sheet, with particular focus on the behavior of ice streams around the margin of the continent