IACS Eearly-career award winner 2015

Dr Mathieu Morlighem

University of California, Irvine

Morlighem, M., Rignot, E., Mouginot, J., Seroussi, H., & Larour, E. (2014). Deeply incised submarine glacial valleys beneath the Greenland ice sheet, Nat. Geosci., 7, 418–422. doi:10.1038/ngeo2167.

Citation for Dr Morlighem by the 2015 Selection Panel:
“In this paper, Dr Morlighem and his colleagues use high resolution satellite measurements of surface elevation and surface ice velocity, plus an ice-mass conservation optimization scheme, to infer ice thickness and bed topography along the periphery of the Greenland ice sheet where the ice is sliding on its base. Their results, which are at a much higher level of spatial detail than previous airborne radar measurements, reveal widespread ice-covered valleys that extend significantly deeper below sea level and farther inland than previously thought. These findings imply that the outlet glaciers of Greenland, and the ice sheet as a whole, are potentially more vulnerable to ocean thermal forcing and peripheral thinning than previously inferred.”

The 2015 evaluation panel: Ian Allison (Chair), Marilyn N. Raphael, Valérie Masson-Delmotte, and Xiao, Cunde.