Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 11, 2026

Laser-Induced Fluorescence Emission (L.I.F.E.) as Novel Non-Invasive Tool for In-Situ Measurements of Biomarkers in Cryospheric Habitats
Published on: October 26, 2019
Physical conditions at the base of a fast moving antarctic ice stream
Abstract:
Boreholes drilled to the bottom of ice stream B in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet reveal that the base of the ice stream is at the melting point and the basal water pressure is within about 1.6 bars of the ice overburden pressure. These conditions allow the rapid ice streaming motion to occur by basal sliding or by shear deformation of unconsolidated sediments that underlie the ice in a layer at least 2 meters thick. The mechanics of ice streaming plays a role in the response of the ice sheet to climatic change.
Related Concept Videos
What is Climate?
Frost Action on Concrete
This freeze-thaw cycle primarily causes surface scaling, where...
Global Climate Change
Conditions on Early Earth
Conditions on Early Earth
What is Weather?

