Sublimation waves: Geomorphic markers of interactions between icy planetary surfaces and winds

• Published in: Earth-Science Reviews
• Main Authors: Bordiec, M, Carpy, Sabrina, Bourgeois, Olivier, Herny, C., Massé, M, Perret, L., Claudin, P., Pochat, S, Douté, Sylvain
• Other Authors: Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique UMR 6112 (LPG), Université d'Angers (UA)-Université de Nantes - UFR des Sciences et des Techniques (UN UFR ST), Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Nantes (UN)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire de recherche en Hydrodynamique, Énergétique et Environnement Atmosphérique (LHEEA), École Centrale de Nantes (ECN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Physique et mécanique des milieux hétérogenes (UMR 7636) (PMMH), Ecole Superieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de la Ville de Paris (ESPCI Paris), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité), Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG )-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2020
• Subjects: Sublimation; Planetary surfaces; Bedforms; Instability; Scaling laws; WindIce sheets; [SDU.STU.GL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Glaciology; [SDU.ENVI]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Continental interfaces; environment; [SDU.STU.GM]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Geomorphology; [SDU.STU.PL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Planetology; Antarc*; Antarctic
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-02975787; https://hal.science/hal-02975787/document; https://hal.science/hal-02975787/file/Bordiec%20et%20al%202020%20-%20preproof.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103350

International audience Sublimation waves are periodic, linear and transverse bedforms that grow by sublimation of icy substrates under turbulent winds. They occur in different environments of the Earth and other planets, where the climate is favorable to sublimation. Their morphological and kinematic characteristics (wavelength, migration velocity, characteristic time of formation) depend on the environmental conditions in which they develop (atmosphere viscosity, wind speed, sublimation rate). To highlight these relations, we designed a theoretical model for their formation, based on models previously designed for dissolution bedforms. From a linear stability analysis of the model, we derived a dispersion relation and three scaling laws. These are validated by comparison with measurements available for two natural terrestrial examples (Blue Ice Areas of the Antarctic ice sheets and ice caves) and with new measurements in a laboratory experiment. They are applied to linear bedforms, of hitherto unknown origin, that we identified on the Martian North Polar Cap. We thus demonstrate that sublimation waves are convenient geomorphic markers to constrain surface compositions, atmospheric properties, climates, and winds on terrestrial ice sheets and other icy planetary surfaces.