Modelling the Transformation from Snow to Ice Based on the Underlying Sintering Process

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>In cold regions of the earth, like Antarctica, Greenland or mountains at high altitude, the annual amount of deposited snow exceeds the amount of snow melting. Snow, which is more than one year old, is called firn. Over time firn transforms...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PAMM
Main Authors: Schultz, Timm, Müller, Ralf, Gross, Dietmar, Humbert, Angelika
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: Wiley 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/58036/
https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/58036/7/Proc%20Appl%20Math%20and%20Mech%20-%202021%20-%20Schultz%20-%20Modelling%20the%20Transformation%20from%20Snow%20to%20Ice%20Based%20on%20the%20Underlying%20Sintering.pdf
https://doi.org/10.1002/pamm.202000212
https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.f8494aa8-e0ef-454c-9d11-f80064ebc5c1
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Summary:<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>In cold regions of the earth, like Antarctica, Greenland or mountains at high altitude, the annual amount of deposited snow exceeds the amount of snow melting. Snow, which is more than one year old, is called firn. Over time firn transforms into ice by a sintering process, mainly driven by overburden pressure and temperature. This ultimately leads to the formation of glaciers and ice sheets.</jats:p><jats:p>We simulate firn densification based on the processes of sintering. The constitutive law represents grain boundary sliding, dislocation creep and diffusion. These mechanisms sum up to the overall densification which leads to the transformation of snow to ice. The model aims at obtaining a physics driven simulation tool for firn densification which provides data for a wider range of areas. It will contribute to develop better models and better understanding of the cryosphere.</jats:p>