Regular Patterns in Frictional Resistance of Ice-Stream Beds Seen by Surface Data Inversion

Abstract

Banding Together It is important to understand how and where the Antarctic Ice Sheet and underlying ground are coupled, if we want to predict the glacial contribution to sea level rise. Sergienko and Hindmarsh (p. 1086 , published online 7 November) used observations of ice surface velocities, ice surface elevations, and bed elevations to perform inverse calculations of basal shear stress. Areas of high basal stress were distributed in riblike patterns embedded in much larger areas of no basal shear stress, which may affect the rates at which ice is discharged into the ocean.