Dutch title: Dynamiek van de Antarctische ijskap en klimaatsvariaties: modellering en ijssamenstelling (AMICS)
Parent project: Research action SPSD-II: Second scientific support plan for a sustainable development policy, more
Funder identifier: EV/03/08 (Other contract id)
Acronym: AMICS
Period: December 2000 till February 2005
Status: Completed
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| Institutes (3) |
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- Vrije Universiteit Brussel; Centrum voor Cartografie en GIS (CCG), more
- Université Libre de Bruxelles; Faculté des Sciences; Département des Sciences de la Terre et de l'Environnement; Laboratoire de Glaciologie, more
- Belgian Science Policy (BELSPO), more, sponsor
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| Abstract |
The main objective of AMICS (Antarctic ice-sheet dynamics and climatic change: Modelling and Ice Composition Studies) network proposal is to contribute to the international research effort leading to an improved understanding of the dynamic behaviour of the Antarctic ice sheet resulting from climatic change. More specifically it aims at a better knowledge of the internal dynamics of the Antarctic ice sheet and to a better assessment of the interactions of the ice sheet with its boundary conditions. The major components of this interdisciplinary research objective are modelling and ice composition studies.
The aim of this research network is to clarify the dynamic interactions between the ice sheet and its boundary conditions, such as the substratum, based on analysis of ice from the basal part of the Antarctic ice sheet and ice-sheet modelling. Results from the analyses will put constraints on the basal boundary conditions of the numerical model and will make validation of the model possible with regard to the melting and refreezing processes at the base. Further constraints come from radio-echo sounding (RES) surveys and SAR interferometric applications. For this purpose, the high-resolution numerical model of complex ice flow will be adapted to three-dimensions and refined. With the numerical model we hope to translate the results of the ice-composition analyses into physical processes, hence providing the scientific community with a model tool of complex basal interaction. As basal processes play an important role in the onset of fast-flowing areas such as ice streams, the role of ice streams, outlet glaciers and ice shelves in the stability of the Antarctic ice sheet and their influence on the variability of the ice sheet with changing climate will be investigated.
The two research teams of this network are the only ones in Belgium that carry out both field work and research regarding the Antarctic Inland ice sheet. Both are involved in the ongoing EPICA project (European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica). The VUB team has a long standing experience in modelling of ice sheets and glaciers and model development for studying ice dynamics. The ULB team is specialized in the study of ice composition, as a tool for understanding the formation and deformation of basal ice retrieved either from major deep ice-core drillings or from natural outcroppings in both Greenland and Antarctica. |
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- Lorrain, R.; Pattyn, F.; Souchez, R.; Debecker, F.; De Brabander, S.; De Smedt, B.; Huyghe, A.; Samyn, D.; Sleewaegen, S.; Tison, J.-L.; Decleir, H. (2006). Antarctic ice-sheet dynamics and climatic change: Modelling and Ice Composition Studies (AMICS): final report. Belgian Science Policy: Brussel. 84 pp., more
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