Finite Element Simulation of Frost Wedging in Ice Shelves
Break-up events in ice shelves have been studied extensively during the last years. One popular assumption links disintegration events to surface melting of the ice shelf in conjunction with growing melt-water ponds, leading to hydro-fracture. As this explanation only holds during warm seasons [1],...
| Published in: | PAMM |
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | unknown |
| Published: |
Wiley
2014
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/45861/ https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/45861/1/Plate_et_al-2014-PAMM.pdf https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.51954 https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.51954.d001 |
| Summary: | Break-up events in ice shelves have been studied extensively during the last years. One popular assumption links disintegration events to surface melting of the ice shelf in conjunction with growing melt-water ponds, leading to hydro-fracture. As this explanation only holds during warm seasons [1], the possibility of frost wedging as forcing mechanism for autumn and winter break-up events is considered. Frost wedging can only occur if a closed ice lid seals the water inside the crack. Hence, the present study of frost wedging in a single crack uses ice lid thicknesses to evaluate the additional pressure on the crack faces. The investigation of the resulting stress intensity factor as a measure of crack criticality follows consequently. The results show that freezing water inside a crack can result in unstable crack growth of an initially stable water filled crack. |
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