Neil Arnold

Neil Arnold
nsa12@cam.ac.uk
Scott Polar Research Institute

Neil Arnold is the Interim Director of the Scott Polar Research Institute. His research interests focus, in the broadest sense, on glacier hydrology; that is the range of systems which carry water within and at the bed of ice sheets and glaciers. Glacier hydrology is one of the fundamental controls on the velocity of ice masses, and hence their possible responses to climate change. His research interests range from small-scale energy balance variations over valley glaciers in the Alps, Svalbard and the Himalaya; the routing of the resulting meltwater over the glacier surface and into the subglacial drainage system; the large-scale variability of ice sheets during the late Quaternary; on the occurrence, behaviour and impact of supraglacial lakes on the Greenland Ice Sheet, and on Antarctic Ice Shelves; and also the possible occurrence of subglacial water on Mars in the recent past, and potentially, at the present day. The main technique used in these investigations is the development of numerical models of the processes involved, together the use airborne- and satellite-derived remotely sensed data, and data obtained from field work, as input data to drive the models, to provide boundary conditions for the models, and for model calibration and evaluation.

Selected recent publications:

Hogan, K.A., Arnold, N.S., Larter, R.D., Kirkham, J.D., Noormets, R., Cofaigh, C.Ó., Golledge, N.R. and Dowdeswell, J.A., 2022. Subglacial Water Flow Over an Antarctic Palaeo‐Ice Stream Bed. Journal of Geophysical Research Earth Surface, v. 127, doi:10.1029/2021jf006442.

Dell, R.L., Banwell, A.F., Willis, I.C., Arnold, N.S., Halberstadt, A.R.W., Chudley, T.R. and Pritchard, H.D., 2021. Supervised classification of slush and ponded water on Antarctic ice shelves using Landsat 8 imagery. Journal of Glaciology, p.1-14. doi:10.1017/jog.2021.114.

Vale, A.B., Arnold, N.S., Rees, W.G. and Lea, J.M., 2021. Remote Detection of Surge-Related Glacier Terminus Change across High Mountain Asia. Remote Sensing, v. 13, p.1309. doi:10.3390/rs13071309.

Butcher, F., Balme, M., Conway, S., Gallagher, C., Arnold, N., Storrar, R., Lewis, S., Hagermann, A. and Davis, J. 2021. Sinuous Ridges in Chukhung Crater, Tempe Terra, Mars: Implications for Fluvial, Glacial, and Glaciofluvial Activity. Icarus, 357, 114131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2020.114131

Butcher, F.E.G., Balme, M.R., Conway, S.J., Gallagher, C., Arnold, N.S., Storrar, R.D., Lewis, S.R. and Hagermann, A., 2020. Morphometry of a glacier-linked esker in NW Tempe Terra, Mars, and implications for sediment-discharge dynamics of subglacial drainage. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v. 542, art. 116325, p.116325-116325. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2020.116325.

Dell, R., Arnold, N., Willis, I., Banwell, A., Williamson, A., Pritchard, H. and Orr, A., 2020. Lateral meltwater transfer across an Antarctic ice shelf. The Cryosphere, v. 14, p.2313-2330. doi:10.5194/tc-14-2313-2020.

Gallagher, C., Butcher, F.E.G., Balme, M., Smith, I. and Arnold, N., 2020. Landforms indicative of regional warm based glaciation, Phlegra Montes, Mars. Icarus, art. 114173, p.114173-114173. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2020.114173.

Kirkham, J.D., Hogan, K.A., Larter, R.D., Arnold, N.S., Nitsche, F.O., Kuhn, G., Gohl, K., Anderson, J.B. and Dowdeswell, J.A., 2020. Morphometry of bedrock meltwater channels on Antarctic inner continental shelves: Implications for channel development and subglacial hydrology. Geomorphology, v. 370, p.107369-. doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2020.107369.

Law, R., Arnold, N., Benedek, C., Tedesco, M., Banwell, A. and Willis, I., 2020. Over-winter persistence of supraglacial lakes on the Greenland Ice Sheet: Results and insights from a new model. Journal of Glaciology, v. 66, p.362-372. doi:10.1017/jog.2020.7.

Arnold, N., 2019. A New Model for Esker Formation Sheds Light on the Processes Within Subglacial Tunnels. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, v. 124, p.700-704. doi:10.1029/2019JF005001.

Arnold, N.S., Conway, S.J., Butcher, F.E.G. and Balme, M.R., 2019. Modeled Subglacial Water Flow Routing Supports Localized Intrusive Heating as a Possible Cause of Basal Melting of Mars’ South Polar Ice Cap. Journal of Geophysical Research Planets, v. 124, p.2101-2116. doi:10.1029/2019je006061.

Kirkham, J.D., Hogan, K.A., Larter, R.D., Arnold, N.S., Nitsche, F.O., Golledge, N.R. and Dowdeswell, J.A., 2019. Past water flow beneath Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers, West Antarctica. The Cryosphere, v. 13, p.1959-1981. doi:10.5194/tc-13-1959-2019

Miles, E.S., Willis, I., Buri, P., Steiner, J.F., Arnold, N.S. and Pellicciotti, F., 2018. Surface Pond Energy Absorption Across Four Himalayan Glaciers Accounts for 1/8 of Total Catchment Ice Loss. Geophys Res Lett, v. 45, p.10464-10473. doi:10.1029/2018GL079678