Ice streams—fast, and faster?

Rapid flow of ice streams is caused either by great thickness, or by effective basal lubrication especially from deforming tills. Competing thermal processes act to stabilize and to destabilize the well-lubricated ice streams, and may contribute to their observed short-term variability yet long-term persistence. Increasing evidence indicates that ice streams are subject to speed-up in response to warming, through thinning or loss of ice shelves, and possibly in response to meltwater penetration to ice-stream beds. To cite this article: R.B. Alley et al., C. R. Physique 5 (2004).