Tensile strength of glacial ice deduced from observations of the 2015 eastern Skaftá cauldron collapse, Vatnajökull ice cap, Iceland
The representation of iceberg calving in numerical models is a key source of uncertainty in century-scale sea-level rise projections. Parameters central to model representations of calving, including the tensile strength of glacier ice, remain poorly constrained. Grain-size and sample-size dependenc...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:902a1db15ac34132832ac88299e32617 2023-05-15T16:21:37+02:00 Tensile strength of glacial ice deduced from observations of the 2015 eastern Skaftá cauldron collapse, Vatnajökull ice cap, Iceland Lizz Ultee Colin Meyer Brent Minchew 2020-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.65 https://doaj.org/article/902a1db15ac34132832ac88299e32617 EN eng Cambridge University Press https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143020000659/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0022-1430 https://doaj.org/toc/1727-5652 doi:10.1017/jog.2020.65 0022-1430 1727-5652 https://doaj.org/article/902a1db15ac34132832ac88299e32617 Journal of Glaciology, Vol 66, Pp 1024-1033 (2020) Crevasses glacier mechanics glacier modeling Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 article 2020 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.65 2023-03-12T01:30:57Z The representation of iceberg calving in numerical models is a key source of uncertainty in century-scale sea-level rise projections. Parameters central to model representations of calving, including the tensile strength of glacier ice, remain poorly constrained. Grain-size and sample-size dependence make it difficult to reconcile laboratory and in situ estimates of ice tensile strength. Further, assumptions of various numerical models obscure comparison of the ‘strength’ parameter with a physically observable value. Here, we address the problem of fracture during calving using an analogous natural laboratory: a viscoelastic analysis of observed surface deformation and associated stresses in the 2015 collapse of eastern Skaftá cauldron, Vatnajökull ice cap, Iceland. We find that the ice within the cauldron could have experienced instantaneous elastic stress on the order of several MPa. We observe surface crevasses at the cauldron edges and center, but find that large areas of ice remain intact despite high stress. Our findings suggest a tensile strength of glacier ice on the order of 1 MPa, consistent with laboratory estimates but exceeding previous glacier-specific estimates. Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier Ice cap Iceland Journal of Glaciology Vatnajökull Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Vatnajökull ENVELOPE(-16.823,-16.823,64.420,64.420) The Cauldron ENVELOPE(99.394,99.394,-66.648,-66.648) Skaftá ENVELOPE(-17.933,-17.933,63.783,63.783) Journal of Glaciology 66 260 1024 1033 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Crevasses glacier mechanics glacier modeling Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
spellingShingle |
Crevasses glacier mechanics glacier modeling Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 Lizz Ultee Colin Meyer Brent Minchew Tensile strength of glacial ice deduced from observations of the 2015 eastern Skaftá cauldron collapse, Vatnajökull ice cap, Iceland |
topic_facet |
Crevasses glacier mechanics glacier modeling Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
description |
The representation of iceberg calving in numerical models is a key source of uncertainty in century-scale sea-level rise projections. Parameters central to model representations of calving, including the tensile strength of glacier ice, remain poorly constrained. Grain-size and sample-size dependence make it difficult to reconcile laboratory and in situ estimates of ice tensile strength. Further, assumptions of various numerical models obscure comparison of the ‘strength’ parameter with a physically observable value. Here, we address the problem of fracture during calving using an analogous natural laboratory: a viscoelastic analysis of observed surface deformation and associated stresses in the 2015 collapse of eastern Skaftá cauldron, Vatnajökull ice cap, Iceland. We find that the ice within the cauldron could have experienced instantaneous elastic stress on the order of several MPa. We observe surface crevasses at the cauldron edges and center, but find that large areas of ice remain intact despite high stress. Our findings suggest a tensile strength of glacier ice on the order of 1 MPa, consistent with laboratory estimates but exceeding previous glacier-specific estimates. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lizz Ultee Colin Meyer Brent Minchew |
author_facet |
Lizz Ultee Colin Meyer Brent Minchew |
author_sort |
Lizz Ultee |
title |
Tensile strength of glacial ice deduced from observations of the 2015 eastern Skaftá cauldron collapse, Vatnajökull ice cap, Iceland |
title_short |
Tensile strength of glacial ice deduced from observations of the 2015 eastern Skaftá cauldron collapse, Vatnajökull ice cap, Iceland |
title_full |
Tensile strength of glacial ice deduced from observations of the 2015 eastern Skaftá cauldron collapse, Vatnajökull ice cap, Iceland |
title_fullStr |
Tensile strength of glacial ice deduced from observations of the 2015 eastern Skaftá cauldron collapse, Vatnajökull ice cap, Iceland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Tensile strength of glacial ice deduced from observations of the 2015 eastern Skaftá cauldron collapse, Vatnajökull ice cap, Iceland |
title_sort |
tensile strength of glacial ice deduced from observations of the 2015 eastern skaftá cauldron collapse, vatnajökull ice cap, iceland |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.65 https://doaj.org/article/902a1db15ac34132832ac88299e32617 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-16.823,-16.823,64.420,64.420) ENVELOPE(99.394,99.394,-66.648,-66.648) ENVELOPE(-17.933,-17.933,63.783,63.783) |
geographic |
Vatnajökull The Cauldron Skaftá |
geographic_facet |
Vatnajökull The Cauldron Skaftá |
genre |
glacier Ice cap Iceland Journal of Glaciology Vatnajökull |
genre_facet |
glacier Ice cap Iceland Journal of Glaciology Vatnajökull |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology, Vol 66, Pp 1024-1033 (2020) |
op_relation |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143020000659/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0022-1430 https://doaj.org/toc/1727-5652 doi:10.1017/jog.2020.65 0022-1430 1727-5652 https://doaj.org/article/902a1db15ac34132832ac88299e32617 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.65 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_volume |
66 |
container_issue |
260 |
container_start_page |
1024 |
op_container_end_page |
1033 |
_version_ |
1766009625910444032 |