STABILITY OF ICE-AGE CAPS

The stability of large ice caps is investigated using the present-day theory of the flow of ice in glaciers and ice sheets. The type of instability is that mentioned by Bodvarsson. It is concluded that a small arctic ice cap can become unstable and expand into a large ice-age ice sheet as a result o...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: WEERTMAN,JOHANNES
Other Authors: COLD REGIONS RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING LAB HANOVER N H
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 1962
Subjects:
*GLACIERS
ABLATION
MATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
POLAR REGIONS
STABILITY
ICE CAPS
Arctic
Ewing
Ice cap
Ice Sheet
Online Access:http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/AD0284937
http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=AD0284937
Description
Summary:The stability of large ice caps is investigated using the present-day theory of the flow of ice in glaciers and ice sheets. The type of instability is that mentioned by Bodvarsson. It is concluded that a small arctic ice cap can become unstable and expand into a large ice-age ice sheet as a result of moderate changes in the regime of the ice cap. A large continental ice cap also can become unstable and shrink to nothing if the snow accumulation is reduced or the ablation rate increased. The results fit well into the Ewing-Donn theory of ice ages. There is the possibility that the inherent instability of ice-age ice caps is in itself sufficient to explain both the formation and disappearance of these ice caps. (Author)

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