A Pressure-sintering Model for the Densification of Polar Firn and Glacier Ice
Abstract A comprehensive multi-mechanism theory of pressure sintering has been applied to the densification of two polar ice sheets. The comparison, which is made using pressure-sintering mechanism maps, indicates that power-law creep is the controlling mechanism between 50% and 98% theoretical dens...
| Published in: | Journal of Glaciology |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
1988
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000009047 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000009047 |
| Summary: | Abstract A comprehensive multi-mechanism theory of pressure sintering has been applied to the densification of two polar ice sheets. The comparison, which is made using pressure-sintering mechanism maps, indicates that power-law creep is the controlling mechanism between 50% and 98% theoretical density. Lattice diffusion becomes dominant at low porosities. The densification rates predicted by the theory are in good agreement with the data, and suggest that a reasonable estimation of the densification behaviour of a polar ice sheet can be made using the theory, based on information obtained from a relatively shallow core. |
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