A creep instability analysis of the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets

Creep instability, the runaway increase of temperature and deformation due to internal strain heating, is analysed with a very simple model of one-dimensional heat transfer to estimate the stability of the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets. Derived stability maps indicate that for the assumed rheol...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences
Main Authors: Gary, P. W., Clarke, G. K. C., Peltier, W. R.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1979
Subjects:
General Earth and Planetary Sciences
Antarctic
The Antarctic
Greenland
Wilkes Land
Antarc*
Antarctica
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e79-016
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/e79-016
Description
Summary:Creep instability, the runaway increase of temperature and deformation due to internal strain heating, is analysed with a very simple model of one-dimensional heat transfer to estimate the stability of the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets. Derived stability maps indicate that for the assumed rheology both ice sheets are completely stable; however, the stability of the coastal region of Wilkes Land in Antarctica is only marginal and cannot be accurately determined because of uncertainties in the data, especially basal shear stress.

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