<ul><li>Researchers studying the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream have discovered that slipping ice is responsible for its higher-than-predicted flow rate.</li><li>By deploying a fiber-optic cable and capturing seismic events, the researchers identified small icequakes that indicate ice locally sticking and slipping, a failure mode not captured by current models.</li><li>The team found that each icequake event was isolated to distinct layers corresponding to ice strata affected by volcanic ash, creating weaker layers within the ice.</li><li>Even with hundreds of meters of ice formed on top of these weaker layers, the ice still breaks first in those layers, explaining the higher flow rate of the ice stream.</li></ul>

Slipping Ice Streams

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