Daniel McGrath Portrait
Ph.D. 2013 • M.A. 2009
Physical Geography

Areas of interest:听Glaciology; ice sheet hydrology; ice shelf stability
Faculty Advisor:听Konrad Steffen

Thesis

2009 - Sediment Plumes in Sondre Stromfjord, Greenland as a proxy for runoff from the Greenland Ice Sheet

2013 - Basal crevasses and suture zones in the Larsen C Ice Shelf, Antarctica: Implications for ice shelf stability in a warming climate

Research Interests

My current research focuses on assessing the stability of the Larsen C ice shelf in a warming climate through the use of in situ, airborne and satellite observations. Past and upcoming field seasons involve maintaining automatic weather stations, collecting ice penetrating radar data in conjunction with kinematic GPS surveys. In particular, I am working to understand the effects of basal melting and marine ice accretion on the stability of the ice shelf.

Other research interests include the hydrology of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Ongoing projects include (1) the use of sediment plume characteristics in peripheral fjords as a proxy for the timing and volume of meltwater runoff from the ice sheet, and (2) constraining the distribution and timing of meltwater input in the ablation zone.