Basal Water Film, Basal Water Pressure, and Velocity of Traveling Waves on Glaciers
Abstract The theory of Nye and of Weertman of traveling waves on glaciers is extended to cover the situation where the presence of abundant basal water or increased basal water pressure produces increased sliding of a glacier over its bed. It is found that the ratio of traveling-wave velocity to sur...
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Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
1983
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000005116 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000005116 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0022143000005116 2024-03-03T08:46:02+00:00 Basal Water Film, Basal Water Pressure, and Velocity of Traveling Waves on Glaciers Weertman, J. Birchfield, G. E. 1983 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000005116 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000005116 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) Journal of Glaciology volume 29, issue 101, page 20-27 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 Earth-Surface Processes journal-article 1983 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000005116 2024-02-08T08:36:15Z Abstract The theory of Nye and of Weertman of traveling waves on glaciers is extended to cover the situation where the presence of abundant basal water or increased basal water pressure produces increased sliding of a glacier over its bed. It is found that the ratio of traveling-wave velocity to surface velocity is independent of the amount of water or the basal water pressure. The theoretical value of this ratio, about 4 to 5, agrees with that found in field measurements (the most recent data are from Mer de Glace). It is concluded that field observations of traveling-wave velocities lend strong support to any glacier sliding theory in which the sliding velocity is proportional to the basal shear stress raised to about a second to fifth power and in which the sliding velocity is a function of either or both the amount of water at the bed of a glacier and the pressure within this water. Article in Journal/Newspaper Journal of Glaciology Cambridge University Press Weertman ENVELOPE(-67.753,-67.753,-66.972,-66.972) Journal of Glaciology 29 101 20 27 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
Earth-Surface Processes |
spellingShingle |
Earth-Surface Processes Weertman, J. Birchfield, G. E. Basal Water Film, Basal Water Pressure, and Velocity of Traveling Waves on Glaciers |
topic_facet |
Earth-Surface Processes |
description |
Abstract The theory of Nye and of Weertman of traveling waves on glaciers is extended to cover the situation where the presence of abundant basal water or increased basal water pressure produces increased sliding of a glacier over its bed. It is found that the ratio of traveling-wave velocity to surface velocity is independent of the amount of water or the basal water pressure. The theoretical value of this ratio, about 4 to 5, agrees with that found in field measurements (the most recent data are from Mer de Glace). It is concluded that field observations of traveling-wave velocities lend strong support to any glacier sliding theory in which the sliding velocity is proportional to the basal shear stress raised to about a second to fifth power and in which the sliding velocity is a function of either or both the amount of water at the bed of a glacier and the pressure within this water. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Weertman, J. Birchfield, G. E. |
author_facet |
Weertman, J. Birchfield, G. E. |
author_sort |
Weertman, J. |
title |
Basal Water Film, Basal Water Pressure, and Velocity of Traveling Waves on Glaciers |
title_short |
Basal Water Film, Basal Water Pressure, and Velocity of Traveling Waves on Glaciers |
title_full |
Basal Water Film, Basal Water Pressure, and Velocity of Traveling Waves on Glaciers |
title_fullStr |
Basal Water Film, Basal Water Pressure, and Velocity of Traveling Waves on Glaciers |
title_full_unstemmed |
Basal Water Film, Basal Water Pressure, and Velocity of Traveling Waves on Glaciers |
title_sort |
basal water film, basal water pressure, and velocity of traveling waves on glaciers |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
1983 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000005116 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000005116 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-67.753,-67.753,-66.972,-66.972) |
geographic |
Weertman |
geographic_facet |
Weertman |
genre |
Journal of Glaciology |
genre_facet |
Journal of Glaciology |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology volume 29, issue 101, page 20-27 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000005116 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_volume |
29 |
container_issue |
101 |
container_start_page |
20 |
op_container_end_page |
27 |
_version_ |
1792501864746450944 |