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Portfolio item number 2

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Ice mass loss sensitivity to the Antarctic ice sheet basal thermal state

Published in Nature Communications, 2022

In this paper, we examine how thawing at the base of the Antarctic ice sheet could lead to significant ice mass loss and contribute to sea-level rise, particularly in previously considered stable regions of East Antarctica. Using numerical model projections, the study highlights that areas like the Wilkes Basin could become major contributors to sea-level rise if basal thawing occurs, challenging the focus on West Antarctica.

Recommended citation: Dawson, E.J., Schroeder, D.M., Chu, W. et al. (2022) Ice mass loss sensitivity to the Antarctic ice sheet basal thermal state. Nat Commun 13, 4957. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-32632-2
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Heterogeneous Basal Thermal Conditions Underpinning the Adélie-George V Coast, East Antarctica

Published in Geophysical Research Letters, 2024

This paper examines the vulnerability of East Antarctica’s Adélie-George V Land, focusing on the Wilkes Subglacial Basin, to ice sheet instability. Using a new statistical method to analyze airborne radar sounding data, the study identifies mixed frozen and thawed bed conditions near the grounding zone. These findings suggest that the region may be more susceptible to climate-driven retreat and mass loss than previously thought, due to the potential ease of ice flow over areas that are near thawing.

Recommended citation: Dawson, E. J., Schroeder, D. M., Chu, W., Mantelli, E., & Seroussi, H. (2024). Heterogeneous basal thermal conditions underpinning the Adélie‐George V Coast, East Antarctica. Geophysical Research Letters, 51(2), e2023GL105450
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Integrative polar geoscience

Breakthroughs in understanding cryospheric change will come from integrating methodologies across disciplines. However, in glaciology, observational and modeling studies often occur in isolation, and there are inadequate crossovers between glaciologists, oceanographers, and climate scientists.

Ice sheet simulations

One of my areas of expertise is utilizing numerical models to simulate ice sheet dynamics. These models are essential for predicting future cryospheric changes via simulating how ice sheets might respond to various environmental factors, particularly climate change. For instance, my work with the Ice-Sheet and Sea-Level System Model (ISSM) has uncovered a potential vulnerability of the Antarctic ice sheet due to climate warming—the impact of thawing at the ice-bed interface on ice-sheet mass loss. In regions where the bed is currently frozen but close to thawing, just a slight increase in basal temperature could significantly reduce basal friction, leading to additional mass loss from the Antarctic ice sheet. You can find out more about this work here.

Radioglaciology

I am also focused on the characterization of englacial and subglacial ice sheet conditions through radar sounding observations. Radar sounding can provide powerful observational constraints on the englacial material properties and thermal and hydrologic conditions of the bed. However, quantitative analysis of radar sounding data remains relatively rare. Statistical and machine learning approaches will be at the forefront of future radar sounding data analysis and can unlock new subsurface ice sheet insights. For example, I developed a novel statistical approach applied to radar data near the outflow of Wilkes Subglacial Basin in East Antarctica to locate regions where the bed is frozen and thawed, along with levels of confidence in the thermal state classifications. Not only did this analysis reveal variable basal thermal conditions in areas controlling the regions stability, but it also comprised the first radar-based assessment of subglacial thermal conditions. This work shows that novel methodological approaches can make it possible to observationally classify frozen and thawed bed, thereby laying the groundwork to use radar-inferred thermal state observations as model constraints.

Teaching experience 1

Undergraduate course, University 1, Department, 2014

This is a description of a teaching experience. You can use markdown like any other post.

Teaching experience 2

Workshop, University 1, Department, 2015

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