Stability of Glaciers and Ice Sheets Against Flow Perturbations
Abstract A stability equation is derived for a model glacier of initially uniform thickness and of infinite extent transverse to the primary flow flowing without slip down an inclined plane. A stress-dependent power-law viscosity is wholly incorporated into the equations of motion. Stability of the...
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Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
1979
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000014908 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000014908 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0022143000014908 2024-03-03T08:46:02+00:00 Stability of Glaciers and Ice Sheets Against Flow Perturbations Thompson, David E. 1979 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000014908 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000014908 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) Journal of Glaciology volume 24, issue 90, page 427-441 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 Earth-Surface Processes journal-article 1979 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000014908 2024-02-08T08:36:15Z Abstract A stability equation is derived for a model glacier of initially uniform thickness and of infinite extent transverse to the primary flow flowing without slip down an inclined plane. A stress-dependent power-law viscosity is wholly incorporated into the equations of motion. Stability of the glacier is tested against long-wavelength surface perturbations. Results for this initial formulation indicate that the glacier is stable against infinitesimal amplitude surface perturbations, although for certain variations of model parameters, the decay-rate of the disturbance becomes very slow, approaching neutral stability. Results are presented in terms of decay-rate magnitudes over a large range of perturbation wavelengths for many model glaciers in which bed slope, ice thickness, and ice rheology parameters are varied. For all models, the maximum decay-rate of the perturbation occurs at disturbance wavelengths of roughly three to six times the glacier thickness. Infinite-wavelength perturbations are found to be only neutrally stable. Long-wavelength perturbations propagate at a faster rate down-glacier than do the intermediate- or shorter-wavelength ones which tend to remain fixed on the glacier surface andride down-glacier with the primary flow as they decay. Article in Journal/Newspaper Journal of Glaciology Cambridge University Press Journal of Glaciology 24 90 427 441 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
Earth-Surface Processes |
spellingShingle |
Earth-Surface Processes Thompson, David E. Stability of Glaciers and Ice Sheets Against Flow Perturbations |
topic_facet |
Earth-Surface Processes |
description |
Abstract A stability equation is derived for a model glacier of initially uniform thickness and of infinite extent transverse to the primary flow flowing without slip down an inclined plane. A stress-dependent power-law viscosity is wholly incorporated into the equations of motion. Stability of the glacier is tested against long-wavelength surface perturbations. Results for this initial formulation indicate that the glacier is stable against infinitesimal amplitude surface perturbations, although for certain variations of model parameters, the decay-rate of the disturbance becomes very slow, approaching neutral stability. Results are presented in terms of decay-rate magnitudes over a large range of perturbation wavelengths for many model glaciers in which bed slope, ice thickness, and ice rheology parameters are varied. For all models, the maximum decay-rate of the perturbation occurs at disturbance wavelengths of roughly three to six times the glacier thickness. Infinite-wavelength perturbations are found to be only neutrally stable. Long-wavelength perturbations propagate at a faster rate down-glacier than do the intermediate- or shorter-wavelength ones which tend to remain fixed on the glacier surface andride down-glacier with the primary flow as they decay. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Thompson, David E. |
author_facet |
Thompson, David E. |
author_sort |
Thompson, David E. |
title |
Stability of Glaciers and Ice Sheets Against Flow Perturbations |
title_short |
Stability of Glaciers and Ice Sheets Against Flow Perturbations |
title_full |
Stability of Glaciers and Ice Sheets Against Flow Perturbations |
title_fullStr |
Stability of Glaciers and Ice Sheets Against Flow Perturbations |
title_full_unstemmed |
Stability of Glaciers and Ice Sheets Against Flow Perturbations |
title_sort |
stability of glaciers and ice sheets against flow perturbations |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
1979 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000014908 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000014908 |
genre |
Journal of Glaciology |
genre_facet |
Journal of Glaciology |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology volume 24, issue 90, page 427-441 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000014908 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_volume |
24 |
container_issue |
90 |
container_start_page |
427 |
op_container_end_page |
441 |
_version_ |
1792501863594065920 |