The West Antarctic Ice Sheet is one of the most unstable areas in Antarctica, which potentially controls up to 3.4 m of sea level rise (Bamber et al, 2010). In order to constrain projections of slr in the next century, accurate spin-ups of this part of the ice sheet must be carried out, which converge reasonably well towards current configuration of the ice sheet.
In particular, special attention must be paid to forcing from the ocean and atmosphere, which are critical in understanding the evolution of marine terminating glaciers that originate from the WAIS. In particular, Pine Island Glacier and Thwaites Glaciers seem to be controlled significantly by penetration of warm water into the Amundsen Sea Embayment (Payne et al, 2004). On a longer time scale, accumulation patterns and thermal forcing since the last interglacial are critical constraints that need to be accurately simulated to understand the past evolution of this part of the Antarctic ice sheet.
Here, we are seeking a Post-Doc candidate that will be able to spin-up ice flow models that can accurately capture the WAIS evolution since the last interglacial, with the goal of constraining projections of future sea level rise in the next century. The Post-Doc will work with the Ice Sheet System Model (ISSM, http://issm.jpl.nasa.gov), the JPL/UCI developed ice sheet flow model. This software is capable of thermal-mechanical modeling of ice flow, at very high resolution, using higher order physics, including full-Stokes. The candidate will be involved in the development of missing
capabilities needed to simulate the evolution of the WAIS since the last
interglacial. The candidate should be knowledgeable with Finite Element
methods, as well as C/C++ coding in a parallel environment (MPICH1/2).
The candidate will be integrated within the ISSM team, that will provide
support and expertise for this task. The candidate should be capable of
directing his own independent research, while still working in synergy
with the ISSM team. Strong expertise in code development in C++ is a plus.
Program: NASA Postdoctoral Program
Topic: Earth Science
Advisor Name: Larour,Eric,Y
Advisor Phone: 1-818-393-2435
Advisor Email: eric.larour@jpl.nasa.gov
Advisor Address: MS 157-307
Advisor Profile: http://issm.jpl.nasa.gov
Section: Thermal and Cryogenics Engineering Section, Mechanical Division.
Keywords: ice sheet modeling large scale paleo