Support for the International Glaciological Society 2016 Symposium on Ice-ocean Interaction

University Of California-San Diego Scripps Inst Of Oceanography, La Jolla CA

Investigators

Abstract

Most of the mass loss from the ice sheets occurs from the floating ice shelves, and thus ice-ocean interaction is a key research topic. This award will support participation by early career scientists at a meeting called "Interaction of Glaciers and Ice Sheets with the Ocean." The symposium is organized under the auspices of the International Glaciological Society and the Forum for Research into Ice Shelf Processes and will be held at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in July 2016. The mass balance of the Earth's land ice (ice sheets, ice caps, and glaciers) and the circulation of the adjacent oceans are strongly coupled through physical processes occurring at the interfaces between ice and ocean. Improved understanding of these processes on the fronts and bases of ice shelves, glacier tongues, and tidewater glaciers is essential to realistically represent the evolution of ice sheets and glaciers in a changing climate and to improve predictions of global ocean circulation and sea level change. The goals of this symposium are to: (i) assess the state of knowledge of ice-ocean interactions; and (ii) discuss what is needed for development of reliable, quantitative models of ice-sheet evolution. This award will support 20 young investigators (students, postdoctoral scholars, and early career scientists) to participate in this Symposium by giving plenary presentations or shorter talks.