International Symposium: Reconciling Observations and Models of Elastic and Viscoelastic Deformation due to Ice Mass Change

University Of Alaska Fairbanks Campus, Fairbanks AK

Investigators

Abstract

The PI requests funds for travel support for US based scientists, mostly graduate students, postdocs, and junior falculties to attend the International Symposium: Reconciling Observations and Models of Elastic and Viscoelastic Deformation due to Ice Mass Change, to be held in Ilulissat, Greenland (Denmark). This conference will provide an opportunity for US-based scientists to interact with colleagues from around the world to develop Glacial Isostatic Adjustment (GIA) models. Determining the mass balance trend and fluctuations of the Earth's cryosphere in a warming climate is a topic of great interest in the Earth and environmental sciences communities. Present day measurements of changes in the cryosphere do not uniquely constrain the present-day mass balance, because of the long-lasting effects of past mass changes - GIA. GIA is caused by the combined elastic and viscoelastic responses of rock beneath glaciers and ice sheets. Developing these GIA models requires accounting for the mass load history and the physical properties of the earth, integrating glaciology, geodesy and seismology through numerical modeling over a variety of timescales, from the elastic response to the viscoelastic response over decades to centuries to millennia. Results from theses studies are needed for understanding postseismic deformation after earthquakes and reconciling the response of the cryosphere and sea level to climate change. This proposal will support the participation of US-based scientists, especially early career scientists, in a focused international conference. They will have the opportunity to present their work and interact with global experts in their related fields. They will also gain first hand experience of glaciation during a field trip to Jakobshavn Isbrae, one of the fastest moving glaciers in the world. The topic of the conference is important for a wide range of fields, such as deriving estimates of the present-day response of the cryosphere to climate change, and developing a proper budget for sea level rise and other impacts of a changing climate.