ABSTRACT
Ice streams are spatially restricted regions in a grounded ice sheet, which flow much faster than the surrounding ice (Fig. 9.1). They are known to be one of the main regulators of ice sheets because of their ability to rapidly drain large volumes of ice. The processes that promote fast flow and restrict it to well-defined arteries are still poorly known. In recent times, the focus of research has been on investigating Antarctic ice streams to try to elucidate their processes of operation (e.g. Bell et al., 1998). Meanwhile, researchers of Quaternary oceanography and palaeo-glaciology have discovered that ice streams were responsible for producing large-order ice sheet instabilities that were of great enough magnitude to force climate change on abrupt (millennial) timescales (Bond and Lotti, 1990). It follows that an understanding of ice stream operation is critical to both contemporary and palaeo-glaciology, and has implications for mechanisms of abrupt climate change.
