A multicomponent coupled model of glacier hydrology ...

• Main Author: Flowers, Gwenn Elizabeth
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2009
• Subjects: Antarc*; Antarctic
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0053158; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0053158

Multiple lines of evidence suggest a causal link between subglacial hydrology and phenomena such as fast-flowing ice. This evidence includes a measured correlation between water under alpine glaciers and their motion, the presence of saturated sediment beneath Antarctic ice streams, and geologic signatures of enhanced paleo-ice flow over deformable substrates. The complexity of the glacier bed as a three-component mixture presents an obstacle to unraveling these conundra. Inadequate representations of hydrology, in part, prevent us from closing the gap between empirical descriptions and a comprehensive consistent framework for understanding the dynamics of glacierized systems. I have developed a distributed numerical model that solves equations governing glacier surface runoff, englacial water transport, subglacial drainage, and subsurface groundwater flow. Ablation and precipitation drive the surface model through a temperature-index parameterization. Water is permitted to flow over and off the glacier, or ...