Calving on tidewater glaciers amplified by submarine frontal melting
While it has been shown repeatedly that ocean conditions exhibit an important control on the behaviour of grounded tidewater glaciers, modelling studies have focused largely on the effects of basal and surface melting. Here, a finite-element model of stresses near the front of a tidewater glacier is...
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ftdatacite:10.48550/arxiv.1208.1296 2023-05-15T13:43:37+02:00 Calving on tidewater glaciers amplified by submarine frontal melting O'Leary, Martin Christoffersen, Poul 2012 https://dx.doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1208.1296 https://arxiv.org/abs/1208.1296 unknown arXiv https://dx.doi.org/10.5194/tcd-6-3287-2012 Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/legalcode cc-by-3.0 CC-BY Geophysics physics.geo-ph Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics physics.ao-ph FOS Physical sciences article-journal Article ScholarlyArticle Text 2012 ftdatacite https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1208.1296 https://doi.org/10.5194/tcd-6-3287-2012 2022-04-01T13:39:17Z While it has been shown repeatedly that ocean conditions exhibit an important control on the behaviour of grounded tidewater glaciers, modelling studies have focused largely on the effects of basal and surface melting. Here, a finite-element model of stresses near the front of a tidewater glacier is used to investigate the effects of frontal melting on calving, independently of the calving criterion used. Applications of the stress model to idealized scenarios reveal that undercutting of the ice front due to frontal melting can drive calving at up to ten times the mean melt rate. Factors which cause increased frontal melt-driven calving include a strong thermal gradient in the ice, and a concentration of frontal melt at the base of the glacier. These properties are typical of both Arctic and Antarctic tidewater glaciers. The finding that frontal melt near the base is a strong driver of calving leads to the conclusion that water temperatures near the bed of the glacier are critically important to the glacier front, and thus the flow of the glacier. These conclusions are robust against changes in the basal boundary condition and the choice of calving criterion, as well as variations in the glacier size or level of crevassing. Text Antarc* Antarctic Arctic Tidewater DataCite Metadata Store (German National Library of Science and Technology) Antarctic Arctic |
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DataCite Metadata Store (German National Library of Science and Technology) |
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topic |
Geophysics physics.geo-ph Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics physics.ao-ph FOS Physical sciences |
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Geophysics physics.geo-ph Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics physics.ao-ph FOS Physical sciences O'Leary, Martin Christoffersen, Poul Calving on tidewater glaciers amplified by submarine frontal melting |
topic_facet |
Geophysics physics.geo-ph Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics physics.ao-ph FOS Physical sciences |
description |
While it has been shown repeatedly that ocean conditions exhibit an important control on the behaviour of grounded tidewater glaciers, modelling studies have focused largely on the effects of basal and surface melting. Here, a finite-element model of stresses near the front of a tidewater glacier is used to investigate the effects of frontal melting on calving, independently of the calving criterion used. Applications of the stress model to idealized scenarios reveal that undercutting of the ice front due to frontal melting can drive calving at up to ten times the mean melt rate. Factors which cause increased frontal melt-driven calving include a strong thermal gradient in the ice, and a concentration of frontal melt at the base of the glacier. These properties are typical of both Arctic and Antarctic tidewater glaciers. The finding that frontal melt near the base is a strong driver of calving leads to the conclusion that water temperatures near the bed of the glacier are critically important to the glacier front, and thus the flow of the glacier. These conclusions are robust against changes in the basal boundary condition and the choice of calving criterion, as well as variations in the glacier size or level of crevassing. |
format |
Text |
author |
O'Leary, Martin Christoffersen, Poul |
author_facet |
O'Leary, Martin Christoffersen, Poul |
author_sort |
O'Leary, Martin |
title |
Calving on tidewater glaciers amplified by submarine frontal melting |
title_short |
Calving on tidewater glaciers amplified by submarine frontal melting |
title_full |
Calving on tidewater glaciers amplified by submarine frontal melting |
title_fullStr |
Calving on tidewater glaciers amplified by submarine frontal melting |
title_full_unstemmed |
Calving on tidewater glaciers amplified by submarine frontal melting |
title_sort |
calving on tidewater glaciers amplified by submarine frontal melting |
publisher |
arXiv |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://dx.doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1208.1296 https://arxiv.org/abs/1208.1296 |
geographic |
Antarctic Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Arctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Arctic Tidewater |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Arctic Tidewater |
op_relation |
https://dx.doi.org/10.5194/tcd-6-3287-2012 |
op_rights |
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/legalcode cc-by-3.0 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1208.1296 https://doi.org/10.5194/tcd-6-3287-2012 |
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1766191307982635008 |