Upper and lower limits on the stability of calving glaciers from the yield strength envelope of ice
Observations indicate that substantial changes in the dynamics of marine-terminating ice sheets and glaciers are tightly coupled to calving-induced changes in the terminus position. However, the calving process itself remains poorly understood and is not well parametrized in current numerical ice sh...
Published in: | Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences |
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crroyalsociety:10.1098/rspa.2011.0422 2024-10-13T14:02:21+00:00 Upper and lower limits on the stability of calving glaciers from the yield strength envelope of ice Bassis, J. N. Walker, C. C. 2011 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2011.0422 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspa.2011.0422 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspa.2011.0422 en eng The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences volume 468, issue 2140, page 913-931 ISSN 1364-5021 1471-2946 journal-article 2011 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2011.0422 2024-09-23T04:22:22Z Observations indicate that substantial changes in the dynamics of marine-terminating ice sheets and glaciers are tightly coupled to calving-induced changes in the terminus position. However, the calving process itself remains poorly understood and is not well parametrized in current numerical ice sheet models. In this study, we address this uncertainty by deriving plausible upper and lower limits for the maximum stable ice thickness at the calving face of marine-terminating glaciers, using two complementary models. The first model assumes that a combination of tensile and shear failure can render the ice cliff near the terminus unstable and/or enable pre-existing crevasses to intersect. A direct consequence of this model is that thick glaciers must terminate in deep water to stabilize the calving front, yielding a predicted maximum ice cliff height that increases with increasing water depth, consistent with observations culled from glaciers in West Greenland, Antarctica, Svalbard and Alaska. The second model considers an analogous lower limit derived by assuming that the ice is already fractured and fractures are lubricated by pore pressure. In this model, a floating ice tongue can only form when the ice entering the terminus region is relatively intact with few pre-existing, deeply penetrating crevasses. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica glaciers Greenland Ice Sheet Svalbard Alaska The Royal Society Svalbard Greenland Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences 468 2140 913 931 |
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Open Polar |
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The Royal Society |
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crroyalsociety |
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English |
description |
Observations indicate that substantial changes in the dynamics of marine-terminating ice sheets and glaciers are tightly coupled to calving-induced changes in the terminus position. However, the calving process itself remains poorly understood and is not well parametrized in current numerical ice sheet models. In this study, we address this uncertainty by deriving plausible upper and lower limits for the maximum stable ice thickness at the calving face of marine-terminating glaciers, using two complementary models. The first model assumes that a combination of tensile and shear failure can render the ice cliff near the terminus unstable and/or enable pre-existing crevasses to intersect. A direct consequence of this model is that thick glaciers must terminate in deep water to stabilize the calving front, yielding a predicted maximum ice cliff height that increases with increasing water depth, consistent with observations culled from glaciers in West Greenland, Antarctica, Svalbard and Alaska. The second model considers an analogous lower limit derived by assuming that the ice is already fractured and fractures are lubricated by pore pressure. In this model, a floating ice tongue can only form when the ice entering the terminus region is relatively intact with few pre-existing, deeply penetrating crevasses. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bassis, J. N. Walker, C. C. |
spellingShingle |
Bassis, J. N. Walker, C. C. Upper and lower limits on the stability of calving glaciers from the yield strength envelope of ice |
author_facet |
Bassis, J. N. Walker, C. C. |
author_sort |
Bassis, J. N. |
title |
Upper and lower limits on the stability of calving glaciers from the yield strength envelope of ice |
title_short |
Upper and lower limits on the stability of calving glaciers from the yield strength envelope of ice |
title_full |
Upper and lower limits on the stability of calving glaciers from the yield strength envelope of ice |
title_fullStr |
Upper and lower limits on the stability of calving glaciers from the yield strength envelope of ice |
title_full_unstemmed |
Upper and lower limits on the stability of calving glaciers from the yield strength envelope of ice |
title_sort |
upper and lower limits on the stability of calving glaciers from the yield strength envelope of ice |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2011.0422 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspa.2011.0422 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspa.2011.0422 |
geographic |
Svalbard Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Svalbard Greenland |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica glaciers Greenland Ice Sheet Svalbard Alaska |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica glaciers Greenland Ice Sheet Svalbard Alaska |
op_source |
Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences volume 468, issue 2140, page 913-931 ISSN 1364-5021 1471-2946 |
op_rights |
https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2011.0422 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences |
container_volume |
468 |
container_issue |
2140 |
container_start_page |
913 |
op_container_end_page |
931 |
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1812816678749208576 |