Effective rheology across the fragmentation transition for sea ice and ice shelves

Funding was provided by the NERC grant NE/P011365/1 Calving Laws for Ice Sheet Models CALISMO. Data files for the plots are found at: https://doi.org/10.5285/76D7D3CA-7B83-4BB0-AAE5-A8E92C7DA5B0Sea ice and ice shelves can be described by a viscoelastic rheology that is approximately linear elastic and brittle at high strain rates, and viscously shear‐thinning at low strain rates. Brittle ice easily fractures under compressive shear and forms shear bands as the material undergoes a transition to a fragmented, granular state. This transition plays a central role in the mechanical behaviour at large scales of sea‐ice in the Arctic Ocean or Antarctic ice shelves. Here we demonstrate that the fragmentation transition is characterized by an essentially discontinuous drop of 3‐5 orders of magnitude in effective viscosity and stress‐relaxation time. Beyond the fragmentation transition, grinding in shear zones further reduces both effective viscosity and shear stiffness, but with an essentially constant relaxation time of ∼10second. These results are relevant for ice‐rheology implementation in large‐scale climate‐related models of sea ice and thin ice shelves.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Basal crevasses in Larsen C Ice Shelf and implications for their global abundance

Basal crevasses extend upwards from the base of ice bodies and can penetrate more than halfway through the ice column under conditions found commonly on ice shelves. As a result, they may locally modify the exchange of mass and energy between ice shelf and ocean, and by altering the shelf's mechanical properties could play a fundamental role in ice shelf stability. Although early studies revealed that such features may be abundant on Antarctic ice shelves, their geometrical properties and spatial distribution has gained little attention. We investigate basal crevasses in Larsen C Ice Shelf using field radar survey, remote sensing and numerical modelling. We demonstrate that a group of features visible in MODIS imagery are the surface expressions of basal crevasses in the form of surface troughs, and find that basal crevasses can be generated as a result of stresses well downstream of the grounding line. We show that linear elastic fracture mechanics modelling is a good predictor of basal crevasse penetration height where stresses are predominantly tensile, and that measured surface trough depth does not always reflect this height, probably because of snow accumulation in the trough, marine ice accretion in the crevasse, or stress bridging from the surrounding ice. We conclude that all features visible in MODIS imagery of ice shelves and previously labelled simply as "crevasses", where they are not full thickness rifts, must be basal crevasse troughs, highlighting a fundamental structural property of many ice shelves that may have been previously overlooked

Geomorphological investigation of multiphase glacitectonic composite ridge systems in Svalbard

Some surge-type glaciers on the High-Arctic archipelago of Svalbard have large glacitectonic composite ridge systems at their terrestrial margins. These have formed by rapid glacier advance into proglacial sediments during the active surge phase, creating multicrested moraine complexes. Such complexes can be formed during single surge advances or multiple surges to successively less-extensive positions. The few existing studies of composite ridge systems have largely relied on detailed information on internal structure and sedimentology to reconstruct their formation and links to surge processes. However, natural exposures of internal structure are commonly unavailable, and the creation of artificial exposures is often problematic in fragile Arctic environments. To compensate for these issues, we investigate the potential for reconstructing composite ridge system formation based on geomorphological evidence alone, focusing on clear morphostratigraphic relationships between ridges within the moraine complex and relict meltwater channels/outwash fans. Based on mapping at the margins of Finsterwalderbreen (in Van Keulenfjorden) and Grønfjordbreen (in Grønfjorden), we show that relict meltwater channels that breach outer parts of the composite ridge systems are in most cases truncated upstream within the ridge complex by an inner pushed ridge or ridges at their ice-proximal extents. Our interpretation of this relationship is that the entire composite ridge system is unlikely to have formed during the same glacier advance but is instead the product of multiple advances to successively less-extensive positions, whereby younger ridges are emplaced on the ice-proximal side of older ridges. This indicates that the Finsterwalderbreen composite ridge system has been formed by multiple separate advances, consistent with the cyclicity of surges. Being able to identify the frequency and magnitude of former surges is important as it provides insight into the past behaviour of surge-type glaciers and, if absolute dating is possible, allows for the assessment of surge-type glacier response to climate change on decadal to centennial timescales. Although further investigations into the internal structure of these deposits should be sought where possible, our study demonstrates that geomorphology could be an invaluable tool for reconstructing the formation of composite ridge systems

Glaciers and Glaciation

Glaciers and Glaciation is the classic textbook for all students of glaciation. Stimulating and accessible, it has established a reputation as a comprehensive and essential resource. In this new edition, the text, references, and illustrations have been thoroughly updated to give today's reader an up-to-the minute overview of the nature, origin, and behavior of glaciers and the geological and geomorphological evidence for their past history on earth. The first part of the book investigates the processes involved in forming glacier ice, the nature of glacier/climate relationships, the mechanisms of glacier flow, and the interactions of glaciers with other natural systems such as rivers, lakes, and oceans. In the second part, the emphasis moves to landforms and sediment, the interpretation of the earth's glacial legacy, and the reconstruction of glacial depositional environments and palaeoglaciology