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Title: A Thin Film Viscoplastic Theory for Calving Glaciers: Toward a Bound on the Calving Rate of Glaciers

Abstract

Projections of the growth and demise of ice sheets and glaciers require physical models of the processes governing flow and fracture of ice. The flow of glacier ice has been treated using increasingly sophisticated models. By contrast, fracture, the process ultimately responsible for half of the mass lost from ice sheets through iceberg calving, is often included using ad hoc parameterizations. In this study we seek to bridge this gap by introducing a model where ice obeys a power law rheology appropriate for intact ice below a yield strength. Above the yield strength, we introduce a separate rheology appropriate for the flow of heavily fractured ice, where ice deformation occurs more readily along faults and fractures. We show that, provided the motion of fractured ice is sufficiently rapid compared to that of intact ice, the behavior of glaciers depends solely on the rheology of intact ice and the yield strength of ice and is insensitive to the precise rheology of fractured ice. Moreover, assuming that glacier ice is unyielded allows us to bound the long‐term average rate of terminus advance, providing a first principles estimate of rates of retreat associated with the marine ice cliff instability. We illustrate model behaviormore » using idealized geometries and climate forcing and show that the model not only exhibits realistic patterns of advance and retreat but also has the potential to exhibit hysteresis. This hysteresis could provide an explanation for the sudden onset of rapid retreat observed in marine‐terminating glaciers.« less

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Department of Climate and Space Science and Engineering University of Michigan Ann Arbor MI USA
Publication Date:
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1561406
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1561407
Resource Type:
Published Article
Journal Name:
Journal of Geophysical Research. Earth Surface
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Journal of Geophysical Research. Earth Surface Journal Volume: 124 Journal Issue: 8; Journal ID: ISSN 2169-9003
Publisher:
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Citation Formats

Bassis, J. N., and Ultee, L. A Thin Film Viscoplastic Theory for Calving Glaciers: Toward a Bound on the Calving Rate of Glaciers. United States: N. p., 2019. Web. doi:10.1029/2019JF005160.
Bassis, J. N., & Ultee, L. A Thin Film Viscoplastic Theory for Calving Glaciers: Toward a Bound on the Calving Rate of Glaciers. United States. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JF005160
Bassis, J. N., and Ultee, L. Fri . "A Thin Film Viscoplastic Theory for Calving Glaciers: Toward a Bound on the Calving Rate of Glaciers". United States. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JF005160.
@article{osti_1561406,
title = {A Thin Film Viscoplastic Theory for Calving Glaciers: Toward a Bound on the Calving Rate of Glaciers},
author = {Bassis, J. N. and Ultee, L.},
abstractNote = {Projections of the growth and demise of ice sheets and glaciers require physical models of the processes governing flow and fracture of ice. The flow of glacier ice has been treated using increasingly sophisticated models. By contrast, fracture, the process ultimately responsible for half of the mass lost from ice sheets through iceberg calving, is often included using ad hoc parameterizations. In this study we seek to bridge this gap by introducing a model where ice obeys a power law rheology appropriate for intact ice below a yield strength. Above the yield strength, we introduce a separate rheology appropriate for the flow of heavily fractured ice, where ice deformation occurs more readily along faults and fractures. We show that, provided the motion of fractured ice is sufficiently rapid compared to that of intact ice, the behavior of glaciers depends solely on the rheology of intact ice and the yield strength of ice and is insensitive to the precise rheology of fractured ice. Moreover, assuming that glacier ice is unyielded allows us to bound the long‐term average rate of terminus advance, providing a first principles estimate of rates of retreat associated with the marine ice cliff instability. We illustrate model behavior using idealized geometries and climate forcing and show that the model not only exhibits realistic patterns of advance and retreat but also has the potential to exhibit hysteresis. This hysteresis could provide an explanation for the sudden onset of rapid retreat observed in marine‐terminating glaciers.},
doi = {10.1029/2019JF005160},
journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research. Earth Surface},
number = 8,
volume = 124,
place = {United States},
year = {2019},
month = {8}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JF005160

Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 9 works
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