Numerical simulations and observations of the role of katabatic winds in the creation and maintenance of Scharffenbergbotnen blue ice area, Antarctica
We model the role of katabatic winds in the formation and maintenance of a blue ice area in Scharffenbergbotnen valley, Antarctica, using the finite element code Elmer. The high-horizontal-resolution (50–200 m) numerical simulations of the local wind flow from katabatic wind fronts show high spatial...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1415-2015 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/9/1415/2015/ |
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ftcopernicus:oai:publications.copernicus.org:tc29396 2023-05-15T13:54:27+02:00 Numerical simulations and observations of the role of katabatic winds in the creation and maintenance of Scharffenbergbotnen blue ice area, Antarctica Zwinger, T. Malm, T. Schäfer, M. Stenberg, R. Moore, J. C. 2018-09-27 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1415-2015 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/9/1415/2015/ eng eng doi:10.5194/tc-9-1415-2015 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/9/1415/2015/ eISSN: 1994-0424 Text 2018 ftcopernicus https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1415-2015 2020-07-20T16:24:30Z We model the role of katabatic winds in the formation and maintenance of a blue ice area in Scharffenbergbotnen valley, Antarctica, using the finite element code Elmer. The high-horizontal-resolution (50–200 m) numerical simulations of the local wind flow from katabatic wind fronts show high spatial variability in wind-impact patterns and good congruence between places with high near-surface wind speeds and the blue ice area. In addition we perform wind simulations on an altered glacier geometry that resembles the thicker ice cover at the Late Glacial Maximum (LGM). These simulations indicate that the pronounced spatial wind-impact patterns depend on present-day geometry and did not occur during the LGM. This leads to the conclusion that the formation of the inner blue ice area of the Scharffenbergbotnen valley started only after the lowering of the ice surface, i.e. after the LGM. Experiments with smoothed surface topography suggest that detailed positions of the high wind regions, and hence individual blue ice fields, may have varied as the ice sheet lowered. The simulation results obtained with the present-day geometry were fortuitously confirmed by the destruction of a field camp located in a high-wind-speed area and its subsequent redistribution to low-velocity areas. The experiments and the field observations are consistent with localized violent katabatic events rather than synoptic-scale storms, playing the dominant role in the formation and maintenance of this and perhaps many blue ice areas. Text Antarc* Antarctica Ice Sheet Copernicus Publications: E-Journals Scharffenbergbotnen ENVELOPE(-11.092,-11.092,-74.575,-74.575) The Cryosphere 9 4 1415 1426 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Copernicus Publications: E-Journals |
op_collection_id |
ftcopernicus |
language |
English |
description |
We model the role of katabatic winds in the formation and maintenance of a blue ice area in Scharffenbergbotnen valley, Antarctica, using the finite element code Elmer. The high-horizontal-resolution (50–200 m) numerical simulations of the local wind flow from katabatic wind fronts show high spatial variability in wind-impact patterns and good congruence between places with high near-surface wind speeds and the blue ice area. In addition we perform wind simulations on an altered glacier geometry that resembles the thicker ice cover at the Late Glacial Maximum (LGM). These simulations indicate that the pronounced spatial wind-impact patterns depend on present-day geometry and did not occur during the LGM. This leads to the conclusion that the formation of the inner blue ice area of the Scharffenbergbotnen valley started only after the lowering of the ice surface, i.e. after the LGM. Experiments with smoothed surface topography suggest that detailed positions of the high wind regions, and hence individual blue ice fields, may have varied as the ice sheet lowered. The simulation results obtained with the present-day geometry were fortuitously confirmed by the destruction of a field camp located in a high-wind-speed area and its subsequent redistribution to low-velocity areas. The experiments and the field observations are consistent with localized violent katabatic events rather than synoptic-scale storms, playing the dominant role in the formation and maintenance of this and perhaps many blue ice areas. |
format |
Text |
author |
Zwinger, T. Malm, T. Schäfer, M. Stenberg, R. Moore, J. C. |
spellingShingle |
Zwinger, T. Malm, T. Schäfer, M. Stenberg, R. Moore, J. C. Numerical simulations and observations of the role of katabatic winds in the creation and maintenance of Scharffenbergbotnen blue ice area, Antarctica |
author_facet |
Zwinger, T. Malm, T. Schäfer, M. Stenberg, R. Moore, J. C. |
author_sort |
Zwinger, T. |
title |
Numerical simulations and observations of the role of katabatic winds in the creation and maintenance of Scharffenbergbotnen blue ice area, Antarctica |
title_short |
Numerical simulations and observations of the role of katabatic winds in the creation and maintenance of Scharffenbergbotnen blue ice area, Antarctica |
title_full |
Numerical simulations and observations of the role of katabatic winds in the creation and maintenance of Scharffenbergbotnen blue ice area, Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Numerical simulations and observations of the role of katabatic winds in the creation and maintenance of Scharffenbergbotnen blue ice area, Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Numerical simulations and observations of the role of katabatic winds in the creation and maintenance of Scharffenbergbotnen blue ice area, Antarctica |
title_sort |
numerical simulations and observations of the role of katabatic winds in the creation and maintenance of scharffenbergbotnen blue ice area, antarctica |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1415-2015 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/9/1415/2015/ |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-11.092,-11.092,-74.575,-74.575) |
geographic |
Scharffenbergbotnen |
geographic_facet |
Scharffenbergbotnen |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica Ice Sheet |
op_source |
eISSN: 1994-0424 |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/tc-9-1415-2015 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/9/1415/2015/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1415-2015 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
1415 |
op_container_end_page |
1426 |
_version_ |
1766260350295998464 |