Full Stokes modeling of marine ice sheets: influence of the grid size

• Published in: Annals of Glaciology
• Main Authors: Durand, Gaël, Gagliardini, Olivier, Zwinger, Thomas, Le Meur, Emmanuel, Hindmarsh, Richard C.A.
• Other Authors: Laboratoire de glaciologie et géophysique de l'environnement (LGGE), Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Scientific Computing Ltd (CSC), British Antarctic Survey (BAS), Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), ANR-06-VULN-0016,DACOTA,Dynamique des glaciers côtiers et rôle sur le bilan de masse global de l'Antarctique zone atelier du glacier de l'Astrolabe, Terre Adélie(2006)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2009
• Subjects: [SDU.STU.GL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Glaciology; Annals of Glaciology; Ice Sheet; Ice Shelf
• Online Access: https://insu.hal.science/insu-00420761; https://insu.hal.science/insu-00420761/document; https://insu.hal.science/insu-00420761/file/full-stokes-modeling-of-marine-ice-sheets-influence-of-the-grid-size.pdf; https://doi.org/10.3189/172756409789624283

International audience Using the finite-element code Elmer, we show that the full Stokes modeling of the ice-sheet/ice-shelf transition we propose can give consistent predictions of grounding-line migration. Like other marine ice-sheet models our approach is highly sensitive to the chosen mesh resolution. However, with a grid size down to <5 km in the vicinity of the grounding line, predictions start to be robust because: (1) whatever the grid size (<5 km) the steady-state grounding-line position is sensibly the same (6 km standard deviation), and (2) with a grid-size refinement in the vicinity of the grounding line (200 m), the steady-state solution is independent of the applied perturbation in fluidity, provided this perturbation remains monotonic.