A fresh look at glacial floods

Science
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Abstract

We tend to think of continental-scale ice sheets as rather ponderous affairs, inexorably advancing southward over the landscape and then slowly retreating to the north at the end of each ice age. Over the last 20 years, however, evidence has accumulated that this is a misconception. We now know that the Laurentide Ice Sheet—the largest ice-age glacier—was characterized by thin, marginal ice streams flowing rapidly on low-friction beds and was unstable through much of its history (13). The ice sheet periodically and abruptly discharged massive amounts of ice into the North Atlantic (4), and abrupt coolings and warmings occurred throughout the last ice age (5).

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title A fresh look at glacial floods
Series title Science
DOI 10.1126/science.1073377
Volume 296
Issue 5571
Year Published 2002
Language English
Publisher American Association for the Advancement of Science
Contributing office(s) Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center
Description 2 p.
First page 1251
Last page 1252
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