Friction at the bed does not control fast glacier flow

Abstract

Sliding at the base Predictions of sea level rise caused by dynamic ice sheet loss rely on a good understanding of what controls how fast the sheets slide over the ground below. The standard approach is to model motion on the basis of an assumed frictional stress between the base of the glacier and a hard underlying bed. Now, however, Stearns and van der Veen show that this method is incorrect. Instead, they suggest that net pressure at the glacier bed controls flow. Science , this issue p. 273