Differential Geometry of Ice Flow
Flowlines on ice sheets and glaciers form complex patterns. To explore their role in ice routing and extend the language for studying such patterns, we develop a theory of flow convergence and curvature in plan view. These geometric quantities respectively equal the negative divergence of the vector...
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ftunivnorthumb:oai:nrl.northumbria.ac.uk:36416 2023-05-15T13:56:54+02:00 Differential Geometry of Ice Flow Ng, Felix Gudmundsson, Hilmar King, Edward 2018-10-23 text https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/36416/ https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2018.00161 https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/36416/1/Ng%20et%20al%20-%20Differential%20Geometry%20of%20Ice%20Flow%20OA.pdf en eng Frontiers https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/36416/1/Ng%20et%20al%20-%20Differential%20Geometry%20of%20Ice%20Flow%20OA.pdf Ng, Felix, Gudmundsson, Hilmar and King, Edward (2018) Differential Geometry of Ice Flow. Frontiers in Earth Science, 6. ISSN 2296-6463 cc_by_4_0 CC-BY F800 Physical and Terrestrial Geographical and Environmental Sciences Article PeerReviewed 2018 ftunivnorthumb https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2018.00161 2022-09-25T06:08:23Z Flowlines on ice sheets and glaciers form complex patterns. To explore their role in ice routing and extend the language for studying such patterns, we develop a theory of flow convergence and curvature in plan view. These geometric quantities respectively equal the negative divergence of the vector field of ice-flow direction and the curl of this field. From the first of these two fundamental results, we show that flow in individual catchments of an ice sheet can converge (despite its overall spreading) because ice divides are loci of strong divergence, and that a sign bifurcation in convergence occurs during ice-sheet “symmetry breaking” (the transition from near-radial spreading to spreading with substantial azimuthal velocities) and during the formation of ice-stream tributary networks. We also uncover the topological control behind balance-flux distributions across ice masses. Notably, convergence participates in mass conservation along flowlines to amplify ice flux via a positive feedback; thus the convergence field governs the form of ice-stream networks simulated by balance-velocity models. The theory provides a roadmap for understanding the tower-shaped plot of flow speed versus convergence for the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet Northumbria University, Newcastle: Northumbria Research Link (NRL) Antarctic Curl ENVELOPE(-63.071,-63.071,-70.797,-70.797) The Antarctic Frontiers in Earth Science 6 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Northumbria University, Newcastle: Northumbria Research Link (NRL) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivnorthumb |
language |
English |
topic |
F800 Physical and Terrestrial Geographical and Environmental Sciences |
spellingShingle |
F800 Physical and Terrestrial Geographical and Environmental Sciences Ng, Felix Gudmundsson, Hilmar King, Edward Differential Geometry of Ice Flow |
topic_facet |
F800 Physical and Terrestrial Geographical and Environmental Sciences |
description |
Flowlines on ice sheets and glaciers form complex patterns. To explore their role in ice routing and extend the language for studying such patterns, we develop a theory of flow convergence and curvature in plan view. These geometric quantities respectively equal the negative divergence of the vector field of ice-flow direction and the curl of this field. From the first of these two fundamental results, we show that flow in individual catchments of an ice sheet can converge (despite its overall spreading) because ice divides are loci of strong divergence, and that a sign bifurcation in convergence occurs during ice-sheet “symmetry breaking” (the transition from near-radial spreading to spreading with substantial azimuthal velocities) and during the formation of ice-stream tributary networks. We also uncover the topological control behind balance-flux distributions across ice masses. Notably, convergence participates in mass conservation along flowlines to amplify ice flux via a positive feedback; thus the convergence field governs the form of ice-stream networks simulated by balance-velocity models. The theory provides a roadmap for understanding the tower-shaped plot of flow speed versus convergence for the Antarctic Ice Sheet. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ng, Felix Gudmundsson, Hilmar King, Edward |
author_facet |
Ng, Felix Gudmundsson, Hilmar King, Edward |
author_sort |
Ng, Felix |
title |
Differential Geometry of Ice Flow |
title_short |
Differential Geometry of Ice Flow |
title_full |
Differential Geometry of Ice Flow |
title_fullStr |
Differential Geometry of Ice Flow |
title_full_unstemmed |
Differential Geometry of Ice Flow |
title_sort |
differential geometry of ice flow |
publisher |
Frontiers |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/36416/ https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2018.00161 https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/36416/1/Ng%20et%20al%20-%20Differential%20Geometry%20of%20Ice%20Flow%20OA.pdf |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-63.071,-63.071,-70.797,-70.797) |
geographic |
Antarctic Curl The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Curl The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet |
op_relation |
https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/36416/1/Ng%20et%20al%20-%20Differential%20Geometry%20of%20Ice%20Flow%20OA.pdf Ng, Felix, Gudmundsson, Hilmar and King, Edward (2018) Differential Geometry of Ice Flow. Frontiers in Earth Science, 6. ISSN 2296-6463 |
op_rights |
cc_by_4_0 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2018.00161 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Earth Science |
container_volume |
6 |
_version_ |
1766264500478017536 |