These animations show the motion of ice in Antarctica.Velocity map of Antarctica. Ice streams can be seen with increasing speeds (blue-yellow-white) flowing toward the coast.[1]Radarsat image of ice streams flowing into the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf.
An ice stream is a region of fast-moving ice within an ice sheet. It is a type of glacier, a body of ice that moves under its own weight.[2] They can move upwards of 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) a year, and can be up to 50 kilometres (31 mi) in width, and hundreds of kilometers in length.[3] They tend to be about 2 km (1.2 mi) deep at the thickest, and constitute the majority of the ice that leaves the sheet. In Antarctica, the ice streams account for approximately 90% of the sheet's mass loss per year, and approximately 50% of the mass loss in Greenland.[3]
The shear forces cause deformation and recrystallization that drive the movement, this movement then causes topographic lows and valleys to form after all of the material in the ice sheet has been discharged.[3] Sediment also plays an important role in flow velocity; the softer and more easily deformed the sediment present, the easier it is for flow velocity to be higher. Most ice streams contain a layer of water at the bottom, which lubricates flow and acts to increase speed.[4]
^Cite error: The named reference Bamber2000 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Stokes, Chris R. (2018). "Geomorphology under ice streams: Moving from form to process". Earth Surface Processes and Landforms. 43 (1): 85–123. Bibcode:2018ESPL...43...85S. doi:10.1002/esp.4259. ISSN 1096-9837.
^Kyrke-Smith, T. M; Katz, R. F; Fowler, A. C (2014-01-08). "Subglacial hydrology and the formation of ice streams". Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences. 470 (2161). doi:10.1098/rspa.2013.0494. ISSN 1364-5021. PMC 3857858. PMID 24399921.
An icestream is a region of fast-moving ice within an ice sheet. It is a type of glacier, a body of ice that moves under its own weight. They can move...
Foundation IceStream (83°15′S 60°00′W / 83.250°S 60.000°W / -83.250; -60.000 (Foundation IceStream)) is a major icestream in the Pensacola Mountains...
Shimizu IceStream (85°11′S 124°0′W / 85.183°S 124.000°W / -85.183; -124.000) is an icestream in the Horlick Mountains, draining west-northwest from...
1967-68. 73°30′S 76°30′W / 73.500°S 76.500°W / -73.500; -76.500. An icestream about 25 nautical miles (46 km; 29 mi) long flowing north into Stange...
centre of the stream, and are bounded by slow-moving ice on either side. Periods of greater icestream flow result in more ice transfer from ice sheets to...
Wiesnet IceStream is an icestream about 15 nautical miles (28 km) long flowing into Venable Ice Shelf west of Allison Peninsula. Named by Advisory Committee...
Whillans IceStream (83°40′S 145°00′W / 83.667°S 145.000°W / -83.667; -145.000) is a glaciological feature of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, formerly...
precipitation. However meltwater from the continent's ice features produce a number of rivers and streams. A list of these can be found at List of rivers of...
stream had actually strengthened. Finally, a 2021 study was able to reconstruct jet stream patterns over the past 1,250 years based on Greenland ice cores...
Drewry IceStream (75°40′00″S 073°00′00″W / 75.66667°S 73.00000°W / -75.66667; -73.00000) is an icestream in eastern Ellsworth Land that flows southwest...
Ferrigno IceStream (73°43′S 83°49′W / 73.717°S 83.817°W / -73.717; -83.817) is an iceStream more than 15 nautical miles (28 km) long flowing into...
Bindschadler IceStream (81°00′S 142°00′W / 81.000°S 142.000°W / -81.000; -142.000) is an icestream between Siple Dome and MacAyeal IceStream. It is one...
MacAyeal IceStream (80°S 143°W / 80°S 143°W / -80; -143), formerly IceStream E, is an icestream in Antarctica flowing west to the juncture of Shirase...
ice sheet are called icestreams. In Antarctica, many icestreams drain into large ice shelves. Some drain directly into the sea, often with an ice tongue...
seven icestreams that drain into the Ross Ice Shelf, the Bindschadler and Whillans icestreams are the most extensive. The seven icestreams discharge...
Fox IceStream (73°28′S 85°29′W / 73.467°S 85.483°W / -73.467; -85.483) is an icestream about 6 nautical miles (11 km) long flowing into Eltanin Bay...
Mercer IceStream (84°50′S 145°00′W / 84.833°S 145.000°W / -84.833; -145.000), formerly IceStream A, flows west to Gould Coast to the south of Whillans...
Evans IceStream is a large icestream draining from Ellsworth Land, between Cape Zumberge and Fowler Ice Rise, into the western part of the Ronne Ice Shelf...
Rutford IceStream (79°00′S 81°00′W / 79.000°S 81.000°W / -79.000; -81.000) is a major Antarctic icestream, about 290 kilometres (180 mi) long and...
Kamb IceStream (82°15′S 145°00′W / 82.250°S 145.000°W / -82.250; -145.000), a glaciological feature of the Ross Ice Shelf of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet...
The Gulf Stream is a warm and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida and up the eastern...
1.1 million years by the effects of erosion associated with repeated icestream activity. The trench is not a subduction-related oceanic trench, where...
The Echelmeyer IceStream (79°10′S 150°00′W / 79.167°S 150.000°W / -79.167; -150.000), formerly known as IceStream F, is a glaciological feature of...
Bailey IceStream (79°0′S 30°0′W / 79.000°S 30.000°W / -79.000; -30.000) is an icestream on the northern margin of the Theron Mountains, flowing west-southwest...
a large icestream, and the fastest melting glacier in Antarctica, responsible for about 25% of Antarctica's ice loss. The glacier icestreams flow west-northwest...
contribute little to the volume of ice flow. After entering the Ross Ice Shelf the Reedy Glacier becomes the Mercer IceStream. In the past it has been at least...
the ice sheet so that it flows more rapidly. This process produces fast-flowing channels in the ice sheet — these are icestreams. Even stable ice sheets...
The Institute IceStream (82°S 75°W / 82°S 75°W / -82; -75) is an icestream flowing north into the Ronne Ice Shelf, Antarctica, southeast of Hercules...
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