The Siple coast ice streams serve as an important observational field site for the study of the West Antarctic mass balance. Though the importance of ice stream dynamics has been understood for 15 years, the understanding of flow mechanisms is still poorly understood. This is due to the limitations enforced on research by the extreme climate and isolated locality. This limitation to research has subsequently limited the extent to which numerical models can accurately predict flow rates and the effect of climate warming. There are many uncertainties in the basal conditions of the ice streams, and various other areas of ice stream flow. Models of ice stream onset, however, have convincingly proven the potential for sporadic development of ice streams, from an initially homogenous flow.