A Movie Film Illustrating the Numerical Modelling of Periodically Surging Ice Masses

Abstract

Abstract A general two-dimensional numerical model for a typical flow line of a glacier or ice cap has been developed which results in periodical surging for certain ranges of the input parameters. The input includes the bedrock and surface-balance profiles along the flow line, some three-dimensional parameterization depending on the cross-section shape and the flow-line patterns, the flow properties of the ice, and a numerical basal lubrication factor. The movie shows how a number of different ice masses grow from zero thickness to either steady state or a periodically surging state depending on the input. Typical examples of real surging ice masses from the small to the large are closely matched by the model in many effects such as the period, duration, and speed of the surges, as well as the length and thickness changes. A preliminary study for the surging potential of a flow line in east Antarctica is also made even though the full temperature modelling is not included. The results indicate that periodic surging of the ice sheet can develop in spite of the expected high viscosity. The resultant surface profile is very similar to the measured profile. For much lower viscosities steady-state, fast-sliding, ice-stream flow develops.