Where glaciers and ice sheets meet the ocean, contact with warmer ocean waters can drive high rates of melt. These regions are where we observe the most rapid change as ice sheet respond to a warming climate, and occur around the world:

• Tidewater Glaciers are ocean-terminating glaciers. Melt at the glacier terminus can affect the mass of a tidewater glacier both directly and indirectly through enhanced iceberg calving.

• Outlet Glaciers are fast-flowing glaciers draining ice towards the edge of an ice sheet. They often terminate in the ocean, where interaction with the ocean can drive rapid change in outflow.

• Ice Shelves are floating areas of ice at the edge of an ice sheet. They have a large surface area in contact with the ocean, and are susceptible to substantial mass loss from ocean-driven melt.

The meltwater generated by glaciers and ice sheets impacts the properties of the surrounding ocean, affecting currents and biogeochemistry. The study of ice-ocean interactions draws together experts from both oceanography and glaciology, and is key to understanding the world's climate.

Learn more about.... 

• Greenland ice sheet-ocean interactions (GRISO)

• How ice-ocean interactions create tipping points in the Antarctic climate system: Tipping Points in Antarctic Climate Components (TiPACCS) and INStabilities & Thresholds in ANTarctica  (INSTANT)

• Ice-ocean interactions at a major Antarctic ice shelf  via International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration

• Strategies for observing under ice shelves from the OASIIS working group