Time Scale for Rapid Draining of a Surficial Lake Into the Greenland Ice Sheet
A 2008 report by Das et al. documented the rapid drainage during summer 2006 of a supraglacial lake, of approximately 44×10^6 m^3, into the Greenland ice sheet over a time scale moderately longer than 1 hr. The lake had been instrumented to record the time-dependent fall of water level and the uplif...
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American Society Mechanical Engineers
2015
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Online Access: | https://authors.library.caltech.edu/58593/ https://authors.library.caltech.edu/58593/1/jam_082_07_071001.pdf https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20150625-080038328 |
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ftcaltechauth:oai:authors.library.caltech.edu:58593 2023-05-15T16:28:08+02:00 Time Scale for Rapid Draining of a Surficial Lake Into the Greenland Ice Sheet Rice, James R. Tsai, Victor C. Fernandes, Matheus C. Platt, John D. 2015-07 application/pdf https://authors.library.caltech.edu/58593/ https://authors.library.caltech.edu/58593/1/jam_082_07_071001.pdf https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20150625-080038328 en eng American Society Mechanical Engineers https://authors.library.caltech.edu/58593/1/jam_082_07_071001.pdf Rice, James R. and Tsai, Victor C. and Fernandes, Matheus C. and Platt, John D. (2015) Time Scale for Rapid Draining of a Surficial Lake Into the Greenland Ice Sheet. Journal of Applied Mechanics, 82 (7). Art. No. 071001. ISSN 0021-8936. doi:10.1115/1.4030325. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20150625-080038328 <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20150625-080038328> other Article PeerReviewed 2015 ftcaltechauth https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4030325 2021-11-11T19:04:57Z A 2008 report by Das et al. documented the rapid drainage during summer 2006 of a supraglacial lake, of approximately 44×10^6 m^3, into the Greenland ice sheet over a time scale moderately longer than 1 hr. The lake had been instrumented to record the time-dependent fall of water level and the uplift of the ice nearby. Liquid water, denser than ice, was presumed to have descended through the sheet along a crevasse system and spread along the bed as a hydraulic facture. The event led two of the present authors to initiate modeling studies on such natural hydraulic fractures. Building on results of those studies, we attempt to better explain the time evolution of such a drainage event. We find that the estimated time has a strong dependence on how much a pre-existing crack/crevasse system, acting as a feeder channel to the bed, has opened by slow creep prior to the time at which a basal hydraulic fracture nucleates. We quantify the process and identify appropriate parameter ranges, particularly of the average temperature of the ice beneath the lake (important for the slow creep opening of the crevasse). We show that average ice temperatures 5–7 °C below melting allow such rapid drainage on a time scale which agrees well with the 2006 observations. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Ice Sheet Caltech Authors (California Institute of Technology) Greenland Journal of Applied Mechanics 82 7 |
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Caltech Authors (California Institute of Technology) |
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ftcaltechauth |
language |
English |
description |
A 2008 report by Das et al. documented the rapid drainage during summer 2006 of a supraglacial lake, of approximately 44×10^6 m^3, into the Greenland ice sheet over a time scale moderately longer than 1 hr. The lake had been instrumented to record the time-dependent fall of water level and the uplift of the ice nearby. Liquid water, denser than ice, was presumed to have descended through the sheet along a crevasse system and spread along the bed as a hydraulic facture. The event led two of the present authors to initiate modeling studies on such natural hydraulic fractures. Building on results of those studies, we attempt to better explain the time evolution of such a drainage event. We find that the estimated time has a strong dependence on how much a pre-existing crack/crevasse system, acting as a feeder channel to the bed, has opened by slow creep prior to the time at which a basal hydraulic fracture nucleates. We quantify the process and identify appropriate parameter ranges, particularly of the average temperature of the ice beneath the lake (important for the slow creep opening of the crevasse). We show that average ice temperatures 5–7 °C below melting allow such rapid drainage on a time scale which agrees well with the 2006 observations. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Rice, James R. Tsai, Victor C. Fernandes, Matheus C. Platt, John D. |
spellingShingle |
Rice, James R. Tsai, Victor C. Fernandes, Matheus C. Platt, John D. Time Scale for Rapid Draining of a Surficial Lake Into the Greenland Ice Sheet |
author_facet |
Rice, James R. Tsai, Victor C. Fernandes, Matheus C. Platt, John D. |
author_sort |
Rice, James R. |
title |
Time Scale for Rapid Draining of a Surficial Lake Into the Greenland Ice Sheet |
title_short |
Time Scale for Rapid Draining of a Surficial Lake Into the Greenland Ice Sheet |
title_full |
Time Scale for Rapid Draining of a Surficial Lake Into the Greenland Ice Sheet |
title_fullStr |
Time Scale for Rapid Draining of a Surficial Lake Into the Greenland Ice Sheet |
title_full_unstemmed |
Time Scale for Rapid Draining of a Surficial Lake Into the Greenland Ice Sheet |
title_sort |
time scale for rapid draining of a surficial lake into the greenland ice sheet |
publisher |
American Society Mechanical Engineers |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://authors.library.caltech.edu/58593/ https://authors.library.caltech.edu/58593/1/jam_082_07_071001.pdf https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20150625-080038328 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Greenland Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Greenland Ice Sheet |
op_relation |
https://authors.library.caltech.edu/58593/1/jam_082_07_071001.pdf Rice, James R. and Tsai, Victor C. and Fernandes, Matheus C. and Platt, John D. (2015) Time Scale for Rapid Draining of a Surficial Lake Into the Greenland Ice Sheet. Journal of Applied Mechanics, 82 (7). Art. No. 071001. ISSN 0021-8936. doi:10.1115/1.4030325. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20150625-080038328 <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20150625-080038328> |
op_rights |
other |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4030325 |
container_title |
Journal of Applied Mechanics |
container_volume |
82 |
container_issue |
7 |
_version_ |
1766017757402365952 |