The effect of ice shelf rheology on shelf edge bending
The distribution of pressure on the vertical seaward front of an ice shelf has been shown to cause downward bending of the shelf if the ice is assumed to have vertically uniform viscosity. Satellite lidar observations show that many shelf edges bend upward and that the amplitude of upward deflection...
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Copernicus Publications
2024
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4165-2024 https://doaj.org/article/e6f77c8faf284d849d7ac44bb5e60491 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:e6f77c8faf284d849d7ac44bb5e60491 2024-09-30T14:36:43+00:00 The effect of ice shelf rheology on shelf edge bending W. R. Buck 2024-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4165-2024 https://doaj.org/article/e6f77c8faf284d849d7ac44bb5e60491 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/18/4165/2024/tc-18-4165-2024.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-18-4165-2024 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/e6f77c8faf284d849d7ac44bb5e60491 The Cryosphere, Vol 18, Pp 4165-4176 (2024) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2024 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4165-2024 2024-09-17T16:00:48Z The distribution of pressure on the vertical seaward front of an ice shelf has been shown to cause downward bending of the shelf if the ice is assumed to have vertically uniform viscosity. Satellite lidar observations show that many shelf edges bend upward and that the amplitude of upward deflections depends systematically on ice shelf thickness. A simple analysis is presented showing that upward bending of shelf edges can result from vertical variations in ice viscosity that are consistent with field observations and laboratory measurements. Resultant vertical variations in horizontal stress produce an internal bending moment that can counter the bending moment due to the shelf-front water pressure. Assuming a linear profile of ice temperature with depth and an Arrhenius relation between temperature and strain rate allows derivation of an analytic expression for internal bending moments as a function of shelf surface temperatures, shelf thickness and ice rheologic parameters. The effect of a power-law relation between stress difference and strain rate can also be included analytically. The key ice rheologic parameter affecting shelf edge bending is the ratio of the activation energy, Q , and the power-law exponent, n . For cold ice surface temperatures and large values of Q / n <svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="23pt" height="14pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="69f9d0e5393dfb4758e625fb9659e665"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="tc-18-4165-2024-ie00001.svg" width="23pt" height="14pt" src="tc-18-4165-2024-ie00001.png"/></svg:svg> , upward bending is expected, while for warm surface temperatures and small values of Q / n <svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="23pt" height="14pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="c436b54090b67d02ff51684a841eda67"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="tc-18-4165-2024-ie00002.svg" width="23pt" height="14pt" ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Ice Shelf The Cryosphere Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles The Cryosphere 18 9 4165 4176 |
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Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 W. R. Buck The effect of ice shelf rheology on shelf edge bending |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
The distribution of pressure on the vertical seaward front of an ice shelf has been shown to cause downward bending of the shelf if the ice is assumed to have vertically uniform viscosity. Satellite lidar observations show that many shelf edges bend upward and that the amplitude of upward deflections depends systematically on ice shelf thickness. A simple analysis is presented showing that upward bending of shelf edges can result from vertical variations in ice viscosity that are consistent with field observations and laboratory measurements. Resultant vertical variations in horizontal stress produce an internal bending moment that can counter the bending moment due to the shelf-front water pressure. Assuming a linear profile of ice temperature with depth and an Arrhenius relation between temperature and strain rate allows derivation of an analytic expression for internal bending moments as a function of shelf surface temperatures, shelf thickness and ice rheologic parameters. The effect of a power-law relation between stress difference and strain rate can also be included analytically. The key ice rheologic parameter affecting shelf edge bending is the ratio of the activation energy, Q , and the power-law exponent, n . For cold ice surface temperatures and large values of Q / n <svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="23pt" height="14pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="69f9d0e5393dfb4758e625fb9659e665"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="tc-18-4165-2024-ie00001.svg" width="23pt" height="14pt" src="tc-18-4165-2024-ie00001.png"/></svg:svg> , upward bending is expected, while for warm surface temperatures and small values of Q / n <svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="23pt" height="14pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="c436b54090b67d02ff51684a841eda67"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="tc-18-4165-2024-ie00002.svg" width="23pt" height="14pt" ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
W. R. Buck |
author_facet |
W. R. Buck |
author_sort |
W. R. Buck |
title |
The effect of ice shelf rheology on shelf edge bending |
title_short |
The effect of ice shelf rheology on shelf edge bending |
title_full |
The effect of ice shelf rheology on shelf edge bending |
title_fullStr |
The effect of ice shelf rheology on shelf edge bending |
title_full_unstemmed |
The effect of ice shelf rheology on shelf edge bending |
title_sort |
effect of ice shelf rheology on shelf edge bending |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4165-2024 https://doaj.org/article/e6f77c8faf284d849d7ac44bb5e60491 |
genre |
Ice Shelf The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
Ice Shelf The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 18, Pp 4165-4176 (2024) |
op_relation |
https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/18/4165/2024/tc-18-4165-2024.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-18-4165-2024 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/e6f77c8faf284d849d7ac44bb5e60491 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4165-2024 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
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18 |
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9 |
container_start_page |
4165 |
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4176 |
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