Dr Ellen Cowan's involvement in the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) recently resulted in her first-author publication in Nature Communications investigating the behavior of the largest outlet glacier from the Alaskan Cordilleran Ice Sheet following the end of the Last Glacial Maximum (~19,000 years before present). Dr Cowan and her colleagues analyzed a variety of geochemical and biological proxies to suggest that high glacial sediment output allowed the glacier to remain stable for several thousand years of warming before ultimately undergoing irreversible retreat due to rising sea level. Her work provides important long-term context for predicting how the world's glaciers and ice sheets will respond to modern anthropogenic climate change.
Schematic drawing of tidewater glacier cycle at Bering Glacier
Schematic drawing of tidewater glacier cycle at Bering Glacier