Due to the complexity of the many geophysical processes involved, predictions of future ice sheet mass loss are usually modeled using empirical relations, for example, to determine ice sheet velocities from stresses and meltwater inputs. However, such empirical relations are unlikely to be appropriate for future climate states significantly different from present-day conditions for which they are calibrated. Detailed physical models often exist but constraining their physical parameters can be impractical. In this talk, I discuss a middle ground in which simple physical models can be constrained and provide useful predictions about present and future ice sheet behavior. I concentrate my discussion on how water modulates ice sheet speeds.

Speaker-suggested reading: : Tsai VC, Smith LC, Gardner AS, Seroussi H (2022). A unified model for transient subglacial water pressure and basal sliding. Journal of Glaciology 68(268), 390–400. https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2021.10