ORCID

Abstract

Glaciers and ice sheets are an integral part of Earth’s system, advancing and retreating in response to changes in climate. Clues about the past, present, and future behaviour of these ice masses are found throughout current and former glaciated landscapes. In this commentary, we outline recent scientific advances from a collection of articles in which geomorphological evidence is used to inform us about the behaviour of glaciers and ice sheets across a range of spatial (landform to continent) and temporal (seasons to millennia) scales. Through a diversity of approaches including field measurements, remote sensing and numerical modelling, these studies build on an extensive background literature to deepen our understanding of how ice flows, how glaciers and ice sheets respond to climate change, and of the processes of ice advance and retreat and the stability of the system. Further integration of knowledge across the fields of geomorphology and glaciology will have tangible benefits for managing the societal and environmental impacts of glacier change, and for improved projections of sea-level rise over the coming decades to centuries.

Publication Date

2024-07-02

Publication Title

Earth Surface Processes and Landforms

Volume

49

Issue

12

ISSN

0197-9337

Acceptance Date

2024-06-23

Deposit Date

2024-07-01

Funding

We would like to thank all of the authors for their contributions towards a unique collection on the topic of geomorphology and glacier/ice sheet change, as well as the Chief Editor Stuart Lane for his support and guidance. R.S.J. is supported by the Australian Research Council under grant numbers DE210101923 and SR200100005 (Special Research Initiative, Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future).

Keywords

climate change, glacial geology, glacial geomorphology, glacier, glaciology, ice sheet, landforms, modelling, remote sensing, sedimentology

First Page

3677

Last Page

3683

Download

Share

COinS