Articles | Volume 20, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-2659-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-2659-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
08 May 2026
Research article |
| 08 May 2026
| 08 May 2026
A model of water extraction from the subglacial hydrologic system under idealized conditions
Colin R. Meyer
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA
Katarzyna L. P. Warburton
Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB3 0WA, UK
Aleah N. Sommers
Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA
Brent M. Minchew
Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
Seismological Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Related authors
No articles found.
Kelly A. Hogan, Katarzyna L. P. Warburton, Alastair G. C. Graham, Jerome A. Neufeld, Duncan R. Hewitt, Julian A. Dowdeswell, and Robert D. Larter
The Cryosphere, 17, 2645–2664, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2645-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2645-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Delicate sea floor ridges – corrugation ridges – that form by tidal motion at Antarctic grounding lines record extremely fast retreat of ice streams in the past. Here we use a mathematical model, constrained by real-world observations from Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica, to explore how corrugation ridges form. We identify
till extrusion, whereby deformable sediment is squeezed out from under the ice like toothpaste as it settles down at each low-tide position, as the most likely process.
Cited articles
Alley, R. B.: Towards a hydrological model for computerized ice-sheet simulations, Hydrol. Process., 10, 649–660, https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-1085(199604)10:4<649::AID-HYP397>3.0.CO;2-1, 1996. a
Alley, R. B., Blankenship, D. D., Bentley, C. R., and Rooney, S. T.: Deformation of till beneath ice stream B, West Antarctica, Nature, 322, 57–59, https://doi.org/10.1038/322057a0, 1986. a
Alley, R. B., Anandakrishnan, S., Bentley, C. R., and Lord, N.: A water-piracy hypothesis for the stagnation of Ice Stream C, Antarctica, Ann. Glaciol., 20, 187–194, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0260305500016438, 1994. a
Andrews, L. C., Catania, G. A., Hoffman, M. J., Gulley, J. D., Lüthi, M. P., Ryser, C., Hawley, R. L., and Neumann, T. A.: Direct observations of evolving subglacial drainage beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet, Nature, 514, 80–83, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13796, 2014. a
Brinkerhoff, D. J., Meyer, C. R., Bueler, E., Truffer, M., and Bartholomaus, T. C.: Inversion of a glacier hydrology model, Ann. Glaciol., 1–12, https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2016.3, 2016. a
Carey, M., Barton, J., and Flanzer, S.: Glacier protection campaigns: what do they really save?, in: Ice humanities, Manchester university press, 89–109, https://doi.org/10.7765/9781526157782.00012, 2022. a
Creyts, T. T. and Schoof, C.: Drainage through subglacial water sheets, J. Geophys. Res., 114, 1–18, https://doi.org/10.1029/2008jf001215, 2009. a
Das, S. B., Joughin, I., Behn, M. D., Howat, I. M., King, M. A., Lizarralde, D., and Bhatia, M. P.: Fracture Propagation to the Base of the Greenland Ice Sheet During Supraglacial Lake Drainage, Science, 320, 778–781, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1153360, 2008. a
de Fleurian, B., Werder, M. A., Beyer, S., Brinkerhoff, D. J., Delaney, I., Dow, C. F., Downs, J., Gagliardini, O., Hoffman, H. J., Hooke, R. L., Seguinot, J., and Sommers, A. N.: SHMIP The subglacial hydrology model intercomparison Project, J. Glaciol., 64, 897–916, https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2018.78, 2018. a
Dow, C. F., Ross, N., Jeofry, H., Siu, K., and Siegert, M. J.: Antarctic basal environment shaped by high-pressure flow through a subglacial river system, Nat. Geosci., 15, 892–898, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-01059-1, 2022. a
Doyle, S. H., Hubbard, B., Christoffersen, P., Law, R., Hewitt, D. R., Neufeld, J. A., Schoonman, C. M., Chudley, T. R., and Bougamont, M.: Water flow through sediments and at the ice-sediment interface beneath Sermeq Kujalleq (Store Glacier), Greenland, J. Glaciol., 68, 665–684, https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2021.121, 2022. a
Ehrenfeucht, S., Dow, C., McArthur, K., Morlighem, M., and McCormack, F. S.: Antarctic Wide Subglacial Hydrology Modeling, Geophys. Res. Lett., 52, e2024GL111386, https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL111386, 2025. a, b
Engelhardt, H., Humphrey, N., Kamb, B., and Fahnestock, M.: Physical conditions at the base of a fast moving Antarctic ice stream, Science, 248, 57–59, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.248.4951.57, 1990. a
Engelhardt, H. F. and Kamb, B.: Basal hydraulic system of a West Antarctic ice stream: Constraints from borehole observations, J. Glaciol., 43, 207–230, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022143000003166, 1997. a, b
Engelhardt, H. F. and Kamb, B.: Basal sliding of Ice Stream B, West Antarctica, J. Glaciol., 44, 223–230, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022143000002562, 1998. a
Fitts, C. R.: Groundwater science, Elsevier, London, ISBN 9780128114551, 2002. a
Flamm, P. and Shibata, A.: “Ice sheet conservation” and international discord: governing (potential) glacial geoengineering in Antarctica, Int. Affairs, 101, 309–320, https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiae281, 2025. a
Flowers, G. E.: Modelling water flow under glaciers and ice sheets, Proc. R. Soc. Lond. Ser. A, 471, https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2014.0907, 2015. a, b
Goldberg, D. N., Morlighem, M., and Gourmelen, N.: Recent Observations of Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica Are Consistent With High Rates of Loss in Next 50 Years, Geophys. Res. Lett., 53, e2025GL118823, https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL118823, 2026. a
Hager, A. O., Hoffman, M. J., Price, S. F., and Schroeder, D. M.: Persistent, extensive channelized drainage modeled beneath Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica, The Cryosphere, 16, 3575–3599, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3575-2022, 2022. a
Hansen, D. D., Warburton, K. L. P., Zoet, L. K., Meyer, C. R., Rempel, A. W., and Stubblefield, A. G.: Presence of Frozen Fringe Impacts Soft-Bedded Slip Relationship, Geophys. Res. Lett., 51, e2023GL107681, https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL107681, 2024. a, b
Helanow, C., Iverson, N. R., Woodard, J. B., and Zoet, L. K.: A slip law for hard-bedded glaciers derived from observed bed topography, Sci. Adv., 7, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abe7798, 2021. a
Hewitt, I. J.: Modelling distributed and channelized subglacial drainage: the spacing of channels, J. Glaciol., 57, 302–314, https://doi.org/10.3189/002214311796405951, 2011. a
Hewitt, I. J.: Seasonal changes in ice sheet motion due to melt water lubrication, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 371, 16–25, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2013.04.022, 2013. a
Iken, A. and Bindschadler, R. A.: Combined measurements of subglacial water pressure and surface velocity of Findelengletscher, Switzerland: conclusions about drainage system and sliding mechanism, J. Glaciol., 32, 101–119, https://doi.org/10.3198/1986JoG32-110-101-119, 1986. a
Joughin, I., Smith, B. E., and Howat, I. M.: A complete map of Greenland ice velocity derived from satellite data collected over 20 years, J. Glaciol., 64, 1–11, https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2017.73, 2018. a
Joughin, I., Smith, B. E., and Schoof, C. G.: Regularized Coulomb Friction Laws for Ice Sheet Sliding: Application to Pine Island Glacier, Antarctica, Geophys. Res. Lett., 46, 4764–4771, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL082526, 2019. a
Kamb, B.: Glacier surge mechanism based on linked cavity configuration of the base water conduit system, J. Geophys. Res., 92, 9083–9099, https://doi.org/10.1029/jb092ib09p09083, 1987. a
Kamb, W. B.: Basal zone of the West Antarctic Ice Streams and its role in lubrication of their rapid motion, in: The West Antarctic Ice Sheet: Behavior and Environment, edited by: Alley, R. B. and Bindschadler, R. A., vol. 77, AGU, Washington, DC, 157–199, https://doi.org/10.1029/ar077p0157, 2001. a, b
Kyrke-Smith, T. M., Katz, R. F., and Fowler, A. C.: Subglacial hydrology and the formation of ice streams, Proc. R. Soc. Lond. Ser. A, 470, https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2013.0494, 2014. a
Liljedahl, L. C., Meierbachtol, T., Harper, J., van As, D., Näslund, J.-O., Selroos, J.-O., Saito, J., Follin, S., Ruskeeniemi, T., Kontula, A., and Humphrey, N.: Rapid and sensitive response of Greenland's groundwater system to ice sheet change, Nat. Geosci., 14, 751–755, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-021-00813-1, 2021. a
Lockley, A., Wolovick, M., Keefer, B., Gladstone, R., Zhao, L.-Y., and Moore, J. C.: Glacier geoengineering to address sea-level rise: A geotechnical approach, Adv. Clim. Change Res., 11, 401–414, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.accre.2020.11.008, 2020. a
MacAyeal, D. R.: Large-scale ice flow over a viscous basal sediment: Theory and application to Ice Stream B, Antarctica, J. Geophys. Res., 94, 4071–4087, https://doi.org/10.1029/JB094iB04p04071, 1989. a
Mankoff, K. D., Solgaard, A., Colgan, W., Ahlstrøm, A. P., Khan, S. A., and Fausto, R. S.: Greenland Ice Sheet solid ice discharge from 1986 through March 2020, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 1367–1383, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-1367-2020, 2020. a
Mejía, J. Z., Gulley, J. D., Trunz, C., Covington, M. D., Bartholomaus, T. C., Xie, S., and Dixon, T. H.: Isolated cavities dominate Greenland ice sheet dynamic response to lake drainage, Geophys. Res. Lett., 48, e2021GL094762, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL094762, 2021. a
Mejía, J. Z., Gulley, J. D., Trunz, C., Covington, M. D., Bartholomaus, T. C., Breithaupt, C., Xie, S., and Dixon, T. H.: Moulin Density Controls the Timing of Peak Pressurization Within the Greenland Ice Sheet's Subglacial Drainage System, Geophys. Res. Lett., 49, e2022GL100058, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL100058, 2022. a
Meyer, C. R.: colinrmeyer/water-extraction: water extraction for TC publication (v1.0), Zenodo [code], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19819522, 2026. a
Meyer, C. R., Downey, A. S., and Rempel, A. W.: Freeze-on limits bed strength beneath sliding glaciers, Nat. Commun., 9, 3242, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-05716-1, 2018. a
Meyer, C. R., Robel, A. A., and Rempel, A. W.: Frozen fringe explains sediment freeze-on during Heinrich events, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 524, 115725, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2019.115725, 2019. a
Minchew, B. and Joughin, I.: Toward a universal glacier slip law, Science, 368, 29–30, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abb3566, 2020. a
Moon, T., Joughin, I., Smith, B., van den Broeke, M. R., van de Berg, W. J., Noël, B., and Usher, M.: Distinct patterns of seasonal Greenland glacier velocity, Geophys. Res. Lett., 41, 7209–7216, https://doi.org/10.1002/2014GL061836, 2014. a
Moon, T. A.: Geoengineering might speed glacier melt, Nature, 556, 436–437, https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-04897-5, 2018. a
Moore, J. C., Gladstone, R., Zwinger, T., and Wolovick, M.: Geoengineer polar glaciers to slow sea-level rise, Nature, 555, 303–305, https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-03036-4, 2018. a
Morland, L.: Unconfined ice-shelf flow, in: Dynamics of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, Springer, 99–116, ISBN 978-90-277-2370-3, 1987. a
Morlighem, M.: MEaSUREs BedMachine Antarctica, Version 4, NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center [data set], https://doi.org/10.5067/POJQI54A45HX, 2025. a
Morlighem, M., Seroussi, H., Larour, E., and Rignot, E.: Inversion of basal friction in Antarctica using exact and incomplete adjoints of a higher-order model, J. Geophys. Res., 118, 1746–1753, https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrf.20125, 2013. a
Morlighem, M., Williams, C. N., Rignot, E., An, L., Arndt, J. E., Bamber, J. L., Catania, G., Chauché, N., Dowdeswell, J. A., Dorschel, B., Fenty, I., Hogan, K., Howat, I., Hubbard, A., Jakobsson, M., Jordan, T. M., Kjeldsen, K. K., Millan, R., Mayer, L., Mouginot, J., Noël, B. P. Y., O'Cofaigh, C., Palmer, S., Rysgaard, S., Seroussi, H., Siegert, M. J., Slabon, P., Straneo, F., van den Broeke, M. R., Weinrebe, W., Wood, M., and Zinglersen, K. B.: BedMachine v3: Complete Bed Topography and Ocean Bathymetry Mapping of Greenland From Multibeam Echo Sounding Combined With Mass Conservation, Geophys. Res. Lett., 44, 11051–11061, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL074954, 2017. a
Morlighem, M., Rignot, E., Binder, T., Blankenship, D., Drews, R., Eagles, G., Eisen, O., Ferraccioli, F., Forsberg, R., Fretwell, P., Goel, V., Greenbaum, J. S., Gudmundsson, H., Guo, J., Helm, V., Hofstede, C., Howat, I., Humbert, A., Jokat, W., Karlsson, N. B., Lee, W. S., Matsuoka, K., Millan, R., Mouginot, J., Paden, J., Pattyn, F., Roberts, J., Rosier, S., Ruppel, A., Seroussi, H., Smith, E. C., Steinhage, D., Sun, B., van den Broeke, M. R., van Ommen, T. D., van Wessem, M., and Young, D. A.: Deep glacial troughs and stabilizing ridges unveiled beneath the margins of the Antarctic ice sheet, Nat. Geosci., 13, 132–137, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0510-8, 2020. a
Narayanan, N., Sommers, A. N., Chu, W., Steiner, J., Siddique, M. A., Meyer, C. R., and Minchew, B.: Simulating Seasonal Evolution of Subglacial Hydrology at a Surging Glacier in the Karakoram, J. Glaciol., 1–26, https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2025.10078, 2025. a
Poinar, K., Dow, C. F., and Andrews, L. C.: Long-Term Support of an Active Subglacial Hydrologic System in Southeast Greenland by Firn Aquifers, Geophys. Res. Lett., 46, 4772–4781, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL082786, 2019. a
Rempel, A. W., Meyer, C. R., and Riverman, K. L.: Melting temperature changes during slip across subglacial cavities drive basal mass exchange, J. Glaciol., 68, 197–203, https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2021.107, 2022. a
Rignot, E., Mouginot, J., and Scheuchl, B.: MEaSUREs InSAR-Based Antarctica Ice Velocity Map, Version 2, NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center [data set], https://doi.org/10.5067/D7GK8F5J8M8R, 2017. a
Robel, A. A., DeGiuli, E., Schoof, C., and Tziperman, E.: Dynamics of ice stream temporal variability: Modes, scales, and hysteresis, J. Geophys. Res., 118, 925–936, https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrf.20072, 2013. a, b
Robel, A. A., Sim, S. J., Meyer, C. R., Siegfried, M. R., and Gustafson, C. D.: Contemporary ice sheet thinning drives subglacial groundwater exfiltration with potential feedbacks on glacier flow, Sci. Adv., 9, eadh3693, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adh3693, 2023. a
Robel, A. A., Verjans, V., and Ambelorun, A. A.: Biases in ice sheet models from missing noise-induced drift, The Cryosphere, 18, 2613–2623, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2613-2024, 2024. a
Scambos, T. A., Bell, R. E., Alley, R. B., Anandakrishnan, S., Bromwich, D. H., Brunt, K., Christianson, K., Creyts, T., Das, S. B., DeConto, R., Dutrieux, P., Fricker, H. A., Holland, D., MacGregor, J., Medley, B., Nicolas, J. P., Pollard, D., Siegfried, M. R., Smith, A. M., Steig, E. J., Trusel, L. D., Vaughan, D. G., and Yager, P. L.: How much, how fast?: A science review and outlook for research on the instability of Antarctica's Thwaites Glacier in the 21st century, Global Planet. Change, 153, 16–34, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2017.04.008, 2017. a
Schoof, C.: The effect of cavitation on glacier sliding, Proc. R. Soc. Lond. Ser. A, 461, 609–627, https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2004.1350, 2005. a
Schoof, C.: Ice sheet acceleration driven by melt supply variability, Nature, 468, 803–806, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09618, 2010. a
Schoof, C. and Mantelli, E.: The role of sliding in ice stream formation, Proc. R. Soc. A, 477, 20200870, https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2020.0870, 2021. a
Siegert, M., Sevestre, H., Bentley, M. J., Brigham-Grette, J., Burgess, H., Buzzard, S., Cavitte, M., Chown, S. L., Colleoni, F., DeConto, R. M., Fricker, H., Gasson, E., Grant, S., Gulisano, A., Hancock, S., Hendry, K., Henley, S., Hock, R., Hughes, K., and Truffer, M.: Safeguarding the polar regions from dangerous geoengineering: a critical assessment of proposed concepts and future prospects, Front. Sci., 3, 1527393, https://doi.org/10.3389/fsci.2025.1527393, 2025. a, b
Solgaard, A. M., Rapp, D., No ol, B. P. Y., and Hvidberg, C. S.: Seasonal Patterns of Greenland Ice Velocity From Sentinel-1 SAR Data Linked to Runoff, Geophys. Res. Lett., 49, e2022GL100343, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL100343, 2022. a
Sommers, A., Rajaram, H., and Morlighem, M.: SHAKTI: Subglacial Hydrology and Kinetic, Transient Interactions v1.0, Geosci. Model Dev., 11, 2955–2974, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-2955-2018, 2018. a, b, c
Sommers, A., Meyer, C. R., Morlighem, M., Rajaram, H., Poinar, K., Chu, W., and Mejía, J.: Subglacial hydrology modeling predicts high winter water pressure and spatially variable transmissivity at Helheim Glacier, Greenland, J. Glaciol., 1–13, https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2023.39, 2023. a, b, c
Sommers, A. N., Meyer, C. R., Poinar, K., Mejía, J., Morlighem, M., Rajaram, H., Warburton, K. L. P., and Chu, W.: Velocity of Greenland's Helheim Glacier Controlled Both by Terminus Effects and Subglacial Hydrology With Distinct Realms of Influence, Geophys. Res. Lett., 51, e2024GL109168, https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL109168, 2024. a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h
Stevens, L. A., Behn, M. D., Das, S. B., Joughin, I., Noël, B. P. Y., Broeke, M. R., and Herring, T.: Greenland Ice Sheet flow response to runoff variability, Geophys. Res. Lett., 43, https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL070414, 2016. a
Stevens, L. A., Nettles, M., Davis, J. L., Creyts, T. T., Kingslake, J., Ahlstrøm, A. P., and Larsen, T. B.: Helheim Glacier diurnal velocity fluctuations driven by surface melt forcing, J. Glaciol., 68, 77–89, https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2021.74, 2022a. a, b
Stevens, L. A., Nettles, M., Davis, J. L., Creyts, T. T., Kingslake, J., Hewitt, I. J., and Stubblefield, A.: Tidewater-glacier response to supraglacial lake drainage, Nat. Commun., 13, 6065, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-33763-2, 2022b. a
Tulaczyk, S., Kamb, B., and Engelhardt, H. F.: Basal mechanics of Ice Stream B, West Antarctica: 2. Undrained plastic bed model, J. Geophys. Res., 105, 483–494, https://doi.org/10.1029/1999jb900328, 2000. a
Ultee, L., Meyer, C., and Minchew, B.: Tensile strength of glacial ice deduced from observations of the 2015 eastern Skaftá cauldron collapse, Vatnajökull ice cap, Iceland, J. Glaciol., 66, 1024–1033, https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.65, 2020. a
Vijay, S., Khan, S. A., Kusk, A., Solgaard, A. M., Moon, T., and Bjørk, A. A.: Resolving Seasonal Ice Velocity of 45 Greenlandic Glaciers With Very High Temporal Details, Geophys. Res. Lett., 46, 1485–1495, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL081503, 2019. a
Warburton, K. L. P., Meyer, C. R., and Sommers, A. N.: Predicting the Onset of Subglacial Drainage Channels, J. Geophys. Res., 129, e2024JF007758, https://doi.org/10.1029/2024JF007758, 2024. a
Weertman, J. and Birchfield, G. E.: Subglacial water flow under ice streams and West Antarctic ice-sheet stability, Ann. Glaciol., 3, 316–320, https://doi.org/10.3189/S0260305500002998, 1982. a
Werder, M. A., Hewitt, I. J., Schoof, C., and Flowers, G. E.: Modeling channelized and distributed subglacial drainage in two dimensions, J. Geophys. Res., 118, 1–19, https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrf.20146, 2013. a
Zoet, L. K. and Iverson, N. R.: Rate-weakening drag during glacier sliding, J. Geophys. Res., 121, 1206–1217, https://doi.org/10.1002/2016jf003909, 2016. a
Zoet, L. K. and Iverson, N. R.: A slip law for glaciers on deformable beds, Science, 368, 76–78, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaz1183, 2020. a, b
Zwally, H. J., Abdalati, W., Herring, T., Larson, K., Saba, J., and Steffen, K.: Surface melt-induced acceleration of Greenland ice-sheet flow, Science, 297, 218–222, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1072708, 2002. a
Short summary
In this study, we investigate how removing water from beneath glaciers influences their water pressure and flow speed. Using a numerical model of Helheim Glacier, Greenland, and Thwaites Glacier, Antarctica, we find that extracting water from under the ice can moderately slow glaciers by lowering subglacial water pressure. Our work improves understanding of glacier dynamics and suggests that studying water removal could enhance knowledge of subglacial systems and potentially slow glacier flow.
In this study, we investigate how removing water from beneath glaciers influences their water...
