Theoretical and experimental studies of ice sheets

Ice sheets deform under gravity and spread into the surrounding
oceans, where their leading edge can detach from the ground and form
floating ice shelves.  The mechanical response of the ice depends on
its complex rheology, and the interactions of ice with the deformable
substrate that supports it and with the ocean.  This leads to a wide
range of phenomena observed near the transition from grounded to
floating ice, such as undulations in the ice surface, fractures in the
floating shelves, and complex spatiotemporal patterns in the ice flow.
My talk will range over these phenomena, presenting laboratory
experiments and mathematical modelling aimed to unfold the governing
dynamics.