Antarctica’s geology controls how its ice sheet moves and responds to climate change. The landscape, rocks, sediments, water, and heat beneath the ice all influence ice flow, yet these conditions remain poorly understood and are often oversimplified in ice-sheet models. Here, we examine how geology influences ice-sheet behavior, identify gaps between geological observations and models, and explore ways to improve collaboration between geologists and ice-sheet modelers.

Observational data on sea ice, snow, glaciers, ice sheets, and permafrost are critical to understand impacts of a changing cryosphere. However, observations from polar and high-mountain regions are often fragmented, heterogeneous, and underutilised. This paper addresses how access to data can be improved by bridging the gap between research communities and operational agencies and provide recommendations for standardisation, data governance, interoperability, and cross-community collaboration.