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Failure strength of icy lithospheres
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Abstract
Lithospheric strengths derived from friction on pre-existing fractures and ductile flow laws show that the tensile strength of intact ice under applicable conditions is actually an order of magnitude stronger than widely assumed. It is demonstrated that this strength is everywhere greater than that required to initiate frictional sliding on pre-existing fractures and faults. Because the tensile strength of intact ice increases markedly with confining pressure, it actually exceeds the frictional strength at all depths. Thus, icy lithospheres will fail by frictional slip along pre-existing fractures at yeild stresses greater than previously assumed rather than opening tensile cracks in intact ice