Modelling calving front dynamics using a level-set method: application to Jakobshavn Isbræ, West Greenland, links model results in MATLAB format ...

• Main Authors: Bondzio, Johannes H, Seroussi, Hélène, Morlighem, Mathieu, Kleiner, Thomas, Rückamp, Martin, Humbert, Angelika, Larour, Eric Y
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2016
• Subjects: Antarc*; Antarctic; glacier; Greenland; Ice Sheet; Jakobshavn; Jakobshavn isbræ
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.859143; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.859143

Calving is a major mechanism of ice discharge of the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, and a change in calving front position affects the entire stress regime of marine terminating glaciers. The representation of calving front dynamics in a 2-D or 3-D ice sheet model remains non-trivial. Here, we present the theoretical and technical framework for a level-set method, an implicit boundary tracking scheme, which we implement into the Ice Sheet System Model (ISSM). This scheme allows us to study the dynamic response of a drainage basin to user-defined calving rates. We apply the method to Jakobshavn Isbræ, a major marine terminating outlet glacier of the West Greenland Ice Sheet. The model robustly reproduces the high sensitivity of the glacier to calving, and we find that enhanced calving triggers significant acceleration of the ice stream. Upstream acceleration is sustained through a combination of mechanisms. However, both lateral stress and ice influx stabilize the ice stream. This study provides new ... : Model results have been created with the Ice Sheet System Model (Larour et al., 2012, doi:10.1029/2011JF002140), trunk-jpl svn revision 18976. The model uses the SI units: [time]=s; [distance]=m; [volume]=m^3; [vel]=m/a; [strainrates]=1/s; Modelcoordinates are in polar stereographic projection, 45W 70N. ...