About the Project
We invite applications from UK and EU candidates for a fully-funded PhD studentship, on modelling behaviour of the Larsen B ice shelf and its tributary glaciers, both before and after the major ice shelf disintegration event in 2002.
Background
Concerns about the future instability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet are informed by both glaciological theory and observations of modern glacier-ice shelf systems. In particular, studies of the disintegration of Larsen Ice shelves A and B and the subsequent glacier dynamic response provided important insights into key processes implicated in ice sheet instability. Recently developed modelling tools provide an opportunity to extract more value from observations of glacier-ice shelf systems, allowing past and present ice-dynamic and calving behaviour to be understood with greater confidence.
Project Description
The aim of the PhD project is to test a set of hypotheses regarding key controls on ice-shelf disintegration and consequent glacier dynamic response, by conducting detailed simulations of ice-shelf fragmentation and post- disintegration dynamics of tributary glaciers. The project will use a state-of-the-art model suite consisting of Elmer/Ice and the Helsinki Discrete Element Model (HiDEM). Elmer/Ice is a 3-D Full-Stokes Finite Element Model with well-established grounding-line migration and calving routines, and is ideally suited to modelling ice dynamic response to changes in boundary conditions, including loss of ice shelves. HiDEM represents ice as 3-D particle assemblages linked by breakable bonds, and allows explicit modelling of ice fracture and calving processes. The PhD is part of the DOMINOS project (Disintegration of Marine Ice Sheets: Novel Optimized Simulations), a component of the NERC/NSF funded International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. The main focus of DOMINOS is to predict future evolution of Thwaites Glacier using a model suite that includes Elmer/Ice and HiDEM, and the PhD will complement this effort by providing a detailed study of analogous processes.
Archive and newly-acquired satellite data will be used for model initialization and validation, including ice velocity and elevation, glacier/ice shelf extent, fracture patterns, and fragment size distributions. Inverse methods will be used in Elmer/Ice to constrain basal topography and traction (grounded ice) and ice rheology (floating ice) for selected locations and times. Using a range of forward and inverse modelling approaches, the project will systematically investigate key processes including: shear margin weakening; surface and basal melting; hydrofracturing; glacier acceleration following ice-shelf removal; and ice-cliff instability. Some experiments will focus on particular processes at key locations (e.g. dynamics of Crane Glacier) while others will investigate process interactions within the system as a whole.
The studentship will begin in January 2019 and is funded for 3 years.
The University of St Andrews is Scotland’s oldest and is consistently ranked as one of the UK’s best universities for teaching, research, and student satisfaction. The ancient town of St Andrews, surrounded by beautiful coastline and countryside, holds a wealth of attractions for visitors and residents alike, and provides a first-class environment for study.
How to apply: We invite applications from well qualified candidates with a background in glaciology or related subject, ideally with experience of computing or numerical modelling.
Please follow the instructions at: https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/study/apply/
Please note that we additionally require you to submit a recent, relevant piece of academic work (a dissertation, for example).
Questions should be addressed to Prof Doug Benn, [Email Address Removed].
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