Project PIs:
Ice sheets have gone through periods of rapid melting, causing sea level to rise many times faster than the current rate of rise. Some of these rapid melting events have occurred during periods when ocean and atmospheric temperatures were at or just above modern temperatures. It is thought that there are instabilities intrinsic in the dynamics of ice sheet flow and melting that may cause such rapid sea level rise events, even without changing climate.
This project aims to (1) understand the physical mechanisms that caused such rapid periods of sea level rise, (2) pinpoint ice sheet processes that control the rate of rapid sea level rise, and (3) develop better models of these instabilities to predict future ice sheet changes.
