The impact of temperature and crystal orientation fabric on the dynamics of mountain glaciers and ice streams
Abstract Streaming ice accounts for a major fraction of global ice flux, yet we cannot yet fully explain the dominant controls on its kinematics. In this contribution, we use an anisotropic full-Stokes thermomechanical flow solver to characterize how mechanical anisotropy and temperature distributio...
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.44 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143020000441 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/jog.2020.44 2024-03-03T08:46:05+00:00 The impact of temperature and crystal orientation fabric on the dynamics of mountain glaciers and ice streams Hruby, Kate Gerbi, Christopher Koons, Peter Campbell, Seth Martín, Carlos Hawley, Robert 2020 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.44 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143020000441 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Journal of Glaciology volume 66, issue 259, page 755-765 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 Earth-Surface Processes journal-article 2020 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.44 2024-02-08T08:34:30Z Abstract Streaming ice accounts for a major fraction of global ice flux, yet we cannot yet fully explain the dominant controls on its kinematics. In this contribution, we use an anisotropic full-Stokes thermomechanical flow solver to characterize how mechanical anisotropy and temperature distribution affect ice flux. For the ice stream and glacier geometries we explored, we found that the ice flux increases 1–3% per °C temperature increase in the margin. Glaciers and ice streams with crystallographic fabric oriented approximately normal to the shear plane increase by comparable amounts: an otherwise isotropic ice stream containing a concentrated transverse single maximum fabric in the margin flows 15% faster than the reference case. Fabric and temperature variations independently impact ice flux, with slightly nonlinear interactions. We find that realistic variations in temperature and crystallographic fabric both affect ice flux to similar degrees, with the exact effect a function of the local fabric and temperature distributions. Given this sensitivity, direct field-based measurements and models incorporating additional factors, such as water content and temporal evolution, are essential for explaining and predicting streaming ice dynamics. Article in Journal/Newspaper Journal of Glaciology Cambridge University Press Journal of Glaciology 66 259 755 765 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
Earth-Surface Processes |
spellingShingle |
Earth-Surface Processes Hruby, Kate Gerbi, Christopher Koons, Peter Campbell, Seth Martín, Carlos Hawley, Robert The impact of temperature and crystal orientation fabric on the dynamics of mountain glaciers and ice streams |
topic_facet |
Earth-Surface Processes |
description |
Abstract Streaming ice accounts for a major fraction of global ice flux, yet we cannot yet fully explain the dominant controls on its kinematics. In this contribution, we use an anisotropic full-Stokes thermomechanical flow solver to characterize how mechanical anisotropy and temperature distribution affect ice flux. For the ice stream and glacier geometries we explored, we found that the ice flux increases 1–3% per °C temperature increase in the margin. Glaciers and ice streams with crystallographic fabric oriented approximately normal to the shear plane increase by comparable amounts: an otherwise isotropic ice stream containing a concentrated transverse single maximum fabric in the margin flows 15% faster than the reference case. Fabric and temperature variations independently impact ice flux, with slightly nonlinear interactions. We find that realistic variations in temperature and crystallographic fabric both affect ice flux to similar degrees, with the exact effect a function of the local fabric and temperature distributions. Given this sensitivity, direct field-based measurements and models incorporating additional factors, such as water content and temporal evolution, are essential for explaining and predicting streaming ice dynamics. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Hruby, Kate Gerbi, Christopher Koons, Peter Campbell, Seth Martín, Carlos Hawley, Robert |
author_facet |
Hruby, Kate Gerbi, Christopher Koons, Peter Campbell, Seth Martín, Carlos Hawley, Robert |
author_sort |
Hruby, Kate |
title |
The impact of temperature and crystal orientation fabric on the dynamics of mountain glaciers and ice streams |
title_short |
The impact of temperature and crystal orientation fabric on the dynamics of mountain glaciers and ice streams |
title_full |
The impact of temperature and crystal orientation fabric on the dynamics of mountain glaciers and ice streams |
title_fullStr |
The impact of temperature and crystal orientation fabric on the dynamics of mountain glaciers and ice streams |
title_full_unstemmed |
The impact of temperature and crystal orientation fabric on the dynamics of mountain glaciers and ice streams |
title_sort |
impact of temperature and crystal orientation fabric on the dynamics of mountain glaciers and ice streams |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.44 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143020000441 |
genre |
Journal of Glaciology |
genre_facet |
Journal of Glaciology |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology volume 66, issue 259, page 755-765 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.44 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_volume |
66 |
container_issue |
259 |
container_start_page |
755 |
op_container_end_page |
765 |
_version_ |
1792501957029527552 |