Dynamics of subglacial floods

The Nye model of jökulhlaups is able to explain both their periodicity and even the detailed shape of the flood hydrograph. In this paper, we show how the model can be used to predict the shape of the hydrographs from the subglacial lake Grímsvötn beneath Vatnajökull in Iceland, and we comment on th...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: A. C. Fowler
Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 2009
Subjects:
Online Access:http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.303.9841
http://www.maths.ox.ac.uk/%7Efowler/papers/2009.2.pdf
Description
Summary:The Nye model of jökulhlaups is able to explain both their periodicity and even the detailed shape of the flood hydrograph. In this paper, we show how the model can be used to predict the shape of the hydrographs from the subglacial lake Grímsvötn beneath Vatnajökull in Iceland, and we comment on three particular issues that have proved contentious in the application of the Nye model: the role of water temperature; the shape of the flood channel; and the value of the bed roughness coefficient.