Sian Thorpe

I am interested in subglacial hydrology and it's impacts on glacial dynamics and evolution.

I joined the department in 2021 as a Polar and Alpine Change (PAC) Master's student. During this time I discovered 180 new active subglacial lakes in the wider Arctic, including in Iceland, Svalbard and Canada. I returned to the department in 2024 as a PhD student to continue this research.

Investigation into the ice dynamic impact of active subglacial lake drainage

Subglacial lakes are bodies of water at the ice-bed interface. Hundreds of active subglacial lakes (those that fill and drain) have been found across the polar regions. Lake drainages can impact the proglacial environment, and can cause a human hazard, through flooding events, and have the potential to profoundly impact ice dynamics. However, the nature of these effects is poorly understood. My research aims to investigate these impacts, with a particular focus on the effect of subglacial lake drainage on ice dynamics. This is necessary in understanding whether subglacial lakes should be added to ice-sheet models to improve predictions for future sea level rise.

To do this, I will utilise the large inventory of known subglacial lakes, which I added to during my master’s research, to provide the first large-scale investigation into the effect of subglacial lake drainage on ice dynamics. This project will use both remote and field methods across a range of glacial settings. Remote sensing methods will include using the ArcticDEM to detect ice surface elevation changes caused by subglacial lake filling and drainage, and the Sentinel satellite constellation to track ice velocity changes. This will be coupled with geophysical fieldwork investigating active subglacial lakes in West Greenland as part of the ongoing Subglacial Lakes at Isunguata Sermia: Dynamics and Evolution (SLIDE) project.

Supervisors: Prof Stephen Livingstone, Dr Andrew Sole