Coupled 3-D full-Stokes modelling of tidewater glaciers

• Published in: Annals of Glaciology
• Main Authors: Samuel J. Cook, Poul Christoffersen, Iain Wheel
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press 2022
• Subjects: Glacier calving; glacier hydrology; glacier modelling; ice/ocean interactions; Meteorology. Climatology; QC851-999; Annals of Glaciology; Tidewater
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2023.4; https://doaj.org/article/22397b1590be451f9d942197cd63330e

Tidewater glaciers are an important and difficult part of the cryosphere to study owing to their complex nature and often inaccessible and physically challenging environments. The interaction of glacier and fjord processes furthermore presents particular observational challenges. Modelling provides a possible solution to these issues, but, at the glacier scale, the processual complexities require a 3-D full-Stokes approach that is computationally expensive. Additionally, the lack of data for model validation or constraints imposes further obstacles. Despite this, progress on modelling such glaciers with explicit inclusion of all relevant processes is being made. The key remaining challenges are including more realistic representations of calving and coupling 3-D glacier modelling with 3-D fjord circulation modelling to allow inclusion of the effect of cross-fjord circulation. We are confident, however, that these issues can be resolved and will be resolved over the next decade.