A viscoelastic model of ice stream flow with application to stick-slip motion

Stick-slip motion such as that observed at Whillans Ice Stream, WestAntarctica, is one example of transient forcing significantly affecting longer-termice-stream dynamics. We develop and present a two-dimensional map-plane viscoelasticmodel of perturbations to ice-stream dynamics suitable for simula...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Frontiers in Earth Science
Main Authors: Ryan Thomas Walker, Byron eParizek, Richard eAlley, Sophie eNowicki
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2016
Subjects:
viscoelasticity
STICK-SLIP
Ice rheology
Whillans Ice Stream
ce stream dynamics
numerical ice sheet modeling
Science
Q
Whillans
Ice Sheet
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2016.00002
https://doaj.org/article/bc0e10bf50584302a5808dcb1e1ce653
Description
Summary:Stick-slip motion such as that observed at Whillans Ice Stream, WestAntarctica, is one example of transient forcing significantly affecting longer-termice-stream dynamics. We develop and present a two-dimensional map-plane viscoelasticmodel of perturbations to ice-stream dynamics suitable for simulating andanalyzing stick-slip behavior. Model results suggest important roles in stick-slipmotion for both the elastic and viscous components of ice rheology, confirming andextending inferences drawn from simple models and observations. Elastic behaviordepends on the rate of applied stress, at times allowing significant velocity perturbationswith little change in accumulated stress perturbation; in contrast, viscousbehavior depends on total accumulated stress and can lead to changes in ice-streamthickness over many stick-slip cycles.

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