Seawater softening of suture zones inhibits fracture propagation in Antarctic ice shelves
Suture zones are abundant on Antarctic ice shelves and widely observed to impede fracture propagation, greatly enhancing ice-shelf stability. Using seismic and radar observations on the Larsen C Ice Shelf of the Antarctic Peninsula, we confirm that such zones are highly heterogeneous, consisting of...
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ftunivtasmania:oai:eprints.utas.edu.au:40196 2023-05-15T13:42:40+02:00 Seawater softening of suture zones inhibits fracture propagation in Antarctic ice shelves Kulessa, b Booth, AD O'Leary, M McGrath, D King, EC Luckman, AJ Holland, PR Jansen, D Bevan, SL Thompson, SS Hubbard, B 2019 application/pdf https://eprints.utas.edu.au/40196/ https://eprints.utas.edu.au/40196/1/140801%20-%20Seawater%20softening%20of%20suture%20zones%20inhibits%20fracture%20propagation%20in%20Antarctic%20ice%20shelves.pdf en eng Nature Publishing Group https://eprints.utas.edu.au/40196/1/140801%20-%20Seawater%20softening%20of%20suture%20zones%20inhibits%20fracture%20propagation%20in%20Antarctic%20ice%20shelves.pdf Kulessa, b, Booth, AD, O'Leary, M, McGrath, D, King, EC, Luckman, AJ, Holland, PR, Jansen, D, Bevan, SL, Thompson, SS orcid:0000-0001-9112-6933 and Hubbard, B 2019 , 'Seawater softening of suture zones inhibits fracture propagation in Antarctic ice shelves' , Nature Communications, vol. 10, no. 1 , pp. 1-12 , doi:10.1038/s41467-019-13539-x <http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-13539-x>. ice shelf stability Antarctica Article PeerReviewed 2019 ftunivtasmania https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-13539-x 2022-01-24T23:17:51Z Suture zones are abundant on Antarctic ice shelves and widely observed to impede fracture propagation, greatly enhancing ice-shelf stability. Using seismic and radar observations on the Larsen C Ice Shelf of the Antarctic Peninsula, we confirm that such zones are highly heterogeneous, consisting of multiple meteoric and marine ice bodies of diverse provenance fused together. Here we demonstrate that fracture detainment is predominantly controlled by enhanced seawater content in suture zones, rather than by enhanced temperature as previously thought. We show that interstitial seawater can reduce fracture-driving stress by orders of magnitude, promoting both viscous relaxation and the development of micro cracks, the incidence of which scales inversely with stress intensity. We show how simple analysis of viscous buckles in ice-penetrating radar data can quantify the seawater content of suture zones and their modification of the ice-shelf’s stress regime. By limiting fracture, enhancing stability and restraining continental ice discharge into the ocean, suture zones act as vital regulators of Antarctic mass balance. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Ice Shelf Ice Shelves University of Tasmania: UTas ePrints Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic Nature Communications 10 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Tasmania: UTas ePrints |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtasmania |
language |
English |
topic |
ice shelf stability Antarctica |
spellingShingle |
ice shelf stability Antarctica Kulessa, b Booth, AD O'Leary, M McGrath, D King, EC Luckman, AJ Holland, PR Jansen, D Bevan, SL Thompson, SS Hubbard, B Seawater softening of suture zones inhibits fracture propagation in Antarctic ice shelves |
topic_facet |
ice shelf stability Antarctica |
description |
Suture zones are abundant on Antarctic ice shelves and widely observed to impede fracture propagation, greatly enhancing ice-shelf stability. Using seismic and radar observations on the Larsen C Ice Shelf of the Antarctic Peninsula, we confirm that such zones are highly heterogeneous, consisting of multiple meteoric and marine ice bodies of diverse provenance fused together. Here we demonstrate that fracture detainment is predominantly controlled by enhanced seawater content in suture zones, rather than by enhanced temperature as previously thought. We show that interstitial seawater can reduce fracture-driving stress by orders of magnitude, promoting both viscous relaxation and the development of micro cracks, the incidence of which scales inversely with stress intensity. We show how simple analysis of viscous buckles in ice-penetrating radar data can quantify the seawater content of suture zones and their modification of the ice-shelf’s stress regime. By limiting fracture, enhancing stability and restraining continental ice discharge into the ocean, suture zones act as vital regulators of Antarctic mass balance. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kulessa, b Booth, AD O'Leary, M McGrath, D King, EC Luckman, AJ Holland, PR Jansen, D Bevan, SL Thompson, SS Hubbard, B |
author_facet |
Kulessa, b Booth, AD O'Leary, M McGrath, D King, EC Luckman, AJ Holland, PR Jansen, D Bevan, SL Thompson, SS Hubbard, B |
author_sort |
Kulessa, b |
title |
Seawater softening of suture zones inhibits fracture propagation in Antarctic ice shelves |
title_short |
Seawater softening of suture zones inhibits fracture propagation in Antarctic ice shelves |
title_full |
Seawater softening of suture zones inhibits fracture propagation in Antarctic ice shelves |
title_fullStr |
Seawater softening of suture zones inhibits fracture propagation in Antarctic ice shelves |
title_full_unstemmed |
Seawater softening of suture zones inhibits fracture propagation in Antarctic ice shelves |
title_sort |
seawater softening of suture zones inhibits fracture propagation in antarctic ice shelves |
publisher |
Nature Publishing Group |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://eprints.utas.edu.au/40196/ https://eprints.utas.edu.au/40196/1/140801%20-%20Seawater%20softening%20of%20suture%20zones%20inhibits%20fracture%20propagation%20in%20Antarctic%20ice%20shelves.pdf |
geographic |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Ice Shelf Ice Shelves |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Ice Shelf Ice Shelves |
op_relation |
https://eprints.utas.edu.au/40196/1/140801%20-%20Seawater%20softening%20of%20suture%20zones%20inhibits%20fracture%20propagation%20in%20Antarctic%20ice%20shelves.pdf Kulessa, b, Booth, AD, O'Leary, M, McGrath, D, King, EC, Luckman, AJ, Holland, PR, Jansen, D, Bevan, SL, Thompson, SS orcid:0000-0001-9112-6933 and Hubbard, B 2019 , 'Seawater softening of suture zones inhibits fracture propagation in Antarctic ice shelves' , Nature Communications, vol. 10, no. 1 , pp. 1-12 , doi:10.1038/s41467-019-13539-x <http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-13539-x>. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-13539-x |
container_title |
Nature Communications |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1766170897516855296 |