Ice stream

Ice stream

An ice stream is a region of an ice sheet that moves significantly faster than the surrounding ice. Ice streams are significant features of the Antarctic where they account for 10% of the volume of the ice. They are up to 50 km wide and 2 km thick. They stretch for hundreds of kilometres and account for most of the ice leaving the ice sheet, and entering the ice shelf.

The speed of the ice in the ice stream can be 1,000 meters per year, an order of magnitude faster than the surrounding ice. The shear forces at the edge of the ice stream causes deformation and recrystallization of the ice from hard glacial ice to a softer and more brittle form. Crevasses form particularly around the shear margins.

The causes of ice streams vary, though most are associated with sub-ice water streams, which lubricate the ice flow. The type of bedrock also is significant. Soft, plastic sediments result in the fastest flow.

List of Ice streams

* East Antarctic Ice Stream
* Whillans Ice Stream (Ice Stream B)
* Evans Ice Stream
* Kamb Ice Stream
* Rutford Ice Stream
* Bailey Ice Stream
* Foundation Ice Stream
* Ice Stream A
* Ice Stream C
* Ice Stream D
* Ice Stream E

References

* [http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/About_Antarctica/Ice/Ice_Streams.html Definition by British Antarctic Survey]

Further reading

* [http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20070331/bob9.asp Fits and Starts - What regulates the flow of huge ice streams?]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Ice Stream — Courant glaciaire Schéma montrant le processus de création d une barrière de glace à partir d un courant glaciaire …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Ice stream — Courant glaciaire Schéma montrant le processus de création d une barrière de glace à partir d un courant glaciaire …   Wikipédia en Français

  • ice stream — noun see ice river …   Useful english dictionary

  • Mercer Ice Stream — Ice streams in Antarctica Mercer Ice Stream (84°50′S 145°00′W …   Wikipedia

  • ice-stream — …   Useful english dictionary

  • Möller Ice Stream — Radarsat image of ice streams, including the Möller, flowing into the Filchner Ronne Ice Shelf Möller Ice Stream ( …   Wikipedia

  • Foundation Ice Stream — (coord|83|15|S|60|0|W|) is a major ice stream in Antarctica s Pensacola Mountains. The ice stream drains northward for 150 miles along the west side of the Patuxent Range and the Neptune Range to enter Ronne Ice Shelf westward of Dufek Massif.… …   Wikipedia

  • Institute Ice Stream — (coord|82|0|S|75|0|W|) is an ice stream flowing north into Ronne Ice Shelf, southeast of Hercules Inlet. The feature was traversed by the United States Antarctic Research Program (USARP) Ellsworth Byrd Seismic Party, 1958 59, and the USARP… …   Wikipedia

  • Evans Ice Stream — (coord|76|0|S|78|0|W|) is a large ice stream draining from Ellsworth Land, between Cape Zumberge and Fowler Ice Rise, into the western part of Ronne Ice Shelf. The feature was recorded on February 5, 1974 in Landsat imagery. It was named by the… …   Wikipedia

  • Shimizu Ice Stream — (coord|85|11|S|124|0|W|) is an ice stream in the Horlick Mountains, draining west northwest from the area between Wisconsin Range and Long Hills to enter the south flank of Horlick Ice Stream. Mapped by United States Geological Survey (USGS) from …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”