The impact of ice sheet geometry on meltwater ingress and reactive solute transport in sedimentary basins

We investigate the effect of ice sheet geometry on groundwater flow patterns and meltwater ingress in a hypothetical sedimentary basin. The simulation results indicate that meltwater ingress is much greater in 3D domains with a relatively narrow ice sheet extent compared to a wide ice sheet, or a si...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Su, Danyang, Xie, Mingliang, Mayer, K. Ulrich, MacQuarrie, Kerry
Format: Other/Unknown Material
Language:unknown
Published: Zenodo 2022
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.rjdfn2zfb
Description
Summary:We investigate the effect of ice sheet geometry on groundwater flow patterns and meltwater ingress in a hypothetical sedimentary basin. The simulation results indicate that meltwater ingress is much greater in 3D domains with a relatively narrow ice sheet extent compared to a wide ice sheet, or a simplified 2D model. In high permeability units (HPUs), the simulated meltwater penetration depth can reach up to 750 m in 3D domains compared to 400 m in a comparable 2D domain. In low permeability units (LPUs), very limited meltwater penetration occurs, indicating that ice sheet geometry and model dimensionality do not substantially affect water flow in these units. A conservative tracer, with a source located at a depth of 500 meters in both HPUs and LPUs, illustrates that solutes can be transported to greater depths in HPUs for a narrow ice lobe scenario, in comparison to a wide ice sheet or the 2D approach. Tracer transport in LPUs is unaffected by ice sheet geometry. Similarly, simulation results indicate that the ingress of dissolved oxygen (O 2 ) into HPUs is most substantial below a narrow ice lobe, while O 2 ingress into LPUs is not affected by ice sheet geometry. The numerical experiments indicate that 3D analysis will give more comprehensive results for flow patterns and reactive solute transport subjected to glaciation/deglaciation cycles in the case of a narrow ice lobe, but also suggest that a 2D approach might provide an adequate representation for the case of a relatively wide ice sheet. # Title of Dataset The impact of ice sheet geometry on meltwater ingress and reactive solute transport in sedimentary basins. # Brief summary of dataset contents This dataset includes the input files and simulated results of sutdy "The impact of ice sheet geometry on meltwater ingress and reactive solute transport in sedimentary basins", published in Water Resources Research. The dataset contains one 2D simulation scenario and three 3D simulation scenarios. Each simulation scenario has one folder. ## Description of ...