据介绍，冰川流动调节着海平面，并在很大程度上受冰的粘滞变形的控制。多种分子尺度的机制促进粘质变形，但目前尚不清楚每种机制如何促进冰川尺度的变形。
研究团队提出了一个冰变形模型，该模型连接了实验室和冰川尺度，统一了现有的粘滞参数估计，提供了一个框架用于估计观测参数，并将实验室观测得出的流动规律纳入冰川流动模型。
他们的结果产生了南极冰盖主要变形机制的地图，显示出与长期存在的假设相反，以应力指数n=4为特征的位错蠕变可能在所有快速流动区域占主导地位。从n=3的标准值开始的这种增加极大地改变了气候条件，在这种条件下，海洋冰盖可能变得不稳定，并推动海平面快速上升。
附：英文原文
Title: A modified viscous flow law for natural glacier ice: Scaling from laboratories to ice sheets
Author: Ranganathan, Meghana, Minchew, Brent
Issue&Volume: 2024-5-30
Abstract: Glacier flow modulates sea level and is governed largely by the viscous deformation of ice. Multiple molecular-scale mechanisms facilitate viscous deformation, but it remains unclear how each contributes to glacier-scale deformation. Here, we present a model of ice deformation that bridges laboratory and glacier scales, unifies existing estimates of the viscous parameters, and provides a framework for estimating the parameters from observations and incorporating flow laws derived from laboratory observations into glacier-flow models. Our results yield a map of the dominant deformation mechanisms in the Antarctic Ice Sheet, showing that, contrary to long-standing assumptions, dislocation creep, characterized by a value of the stress exponent n=4, likely dominates in all fast-flowing areas. This increase from the canonical value of n=3 dramatically alters the climate conditions under which marine ice sheets may become unstable and drive rapid rates of sea-level rise.
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2309788121
Source: https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2309788121