scholarly journals Canals under sediment-based ice sheets

2000 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 146-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix S. L. Ng

AbstractClassical theories of channelized subglacial drainage identify a melting vs creep balance at the channel-ice boundary that is crucial in determining its steady flow properties, but this consideration neglects the role of erodible-deformable basal sediments, especially in controlling channel morphology. Here we present a mathematical model for channel/underneath ice sheets, which incorporates the detailed mechanics of sediment transport over a mobile till-bed interface, and which allows a variable, wide channel cross section also. The resulting drainage conditions depend on the sediment flux (q) as well as the water flux (Q) through the channel - these quantities being controlled by the rates at which sediment and meltwater are captured by the flow. An approximate analytical solution indicates a "canal"-type drainage law (Walder and Fowler, 1994) of the form where N2 is thε effective channel pτessUτe, n is the exponent in Glen’s flow law for ice, and Ψ is the imposed hydraulic gradient (due to topography). By solving the downstream problem numerically, the canal characteristic has been confirmed and found to be insensitive to upstream conditions. Thus, low effective pressures can result from high basal water flux or melt rates. This supports the contention that canals may be a central component in fast ice flow over soft beds The proposed model also establishes a fundamental link between the plumbing system of a glacier and its sediment budget.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felicity McCormack ◽  
Roland Warner ◽  
Adam Treverrow ◽  
Helene Seroussi

<p>Viscous deformation is the main process controlling ice flow in ice shelves and in slow-moving regions of polar ice sheets where ice is frozen to the bed. However, the role of deformation in flow in ice streams and fast-flowing regions is typically poorly represented in ice sheet models due to a major limitation in the current standard flow relation used in most large-scale ice sheet models – the Glen flow relation – which does not capture the steady-state flow of anisotropic ice that prevails in polar ice sheets. Here, we highlight recent advances in modeling deformation in the Ice Sheet System Model using the ESTAR (empirical, scalar, tertiary, anisotropic regime) flow relation – a new description of deformation that takes into account the impact of different types of stresses on the deformation rate. We contrast the influence of the ESTAR and Glen flow relations on the role of deformation in the dynamics of Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica, using diagnostic simulations. We find key differences in: (1) the slow-flowing interior of the catchment where the unenhanced Glen flow relation simulates unphysical basal sliding; (2) over the floating Thwaites Glacier Tongue where the ESTAR flow relation outperforms the Glen flow relation in accounting for tertiary creep and the spatial differences in deformation rates inherent to ice anisotropy; and (3) in the grounded region within 80km of the grounding line where the ESTAR flow relation locally predicts up to three times more vertical shear deformation than the unenhanced Glen flow relation, from a combination of enhanced vertical shear flow and differences in the distribution of basal shear stresses. More broadly on grounded ice, the membrane stresses are found to play a key role in the patterns in basal shear stresses and the balance between basal shear stresses and gravitational forces simulated by each of the ESTAR and Glen flow relations. Our results have implications for the suitability of ice flow relations used to constrain uncertainty in reconstructions and projections of global sea levels, warranting further investigation into using the ESTAR flow relation in transient simulations of glacier and ice sheet dynamics. We conclude by discussing how geophysical data might be used to provide insight into the relationship between ice flow processes as captured by the ESTAR flow relation and ice fabric anisotropy.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Christmann ◽  
Veit Helm ◽  
Shfaqat Abbas Khan ◽  
Thomas Kleiner ◽  
Ralf Müller ◽  
...  

AbstractFuture projections of global mean sea level change are uncertain, partly because of our limited understanding of the dynamics of Greenland’s outlet glaciers. Here we study Nioghalvfjerdsbræ, an outlet glacier of the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream that holds 1.1 m sea-level equivalent of ice. We use GPS observations and numerical modelling to investigate the role of tides as well as the elastic contribution to glacier flow. We find that ocean tides alter the basal lubrication of the glacier up to 10 km inland of the grounding line, and that their influence is best described by a viscoelastic rather than a viscous model. Further inland, sliding is the dominant mechanism of fast glacier motion, and the ice flow induces persistent elastic strain. We conclude that elastic deformation plays a role in glacier flow, particularly in areas of steep topographic changes and fast ice velocities.


2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Himanshu Rajput

Social networking sites (SNSs) have become popular in India with the proliferation of Internet. SNSs have gained the interests of academicians and researchers. The current study is an endeavor to understand the continuance of social networking sites in India. The study applies an extended version of theory of planned behavior. Additional factors privacy concerns and habits were incorporated into the standard theory of planned behaviour. A survey was conducted in a Central University in India. Overall, data was collected from 150 respondents. PLS-SEM was used to test the proposed model. All the hypotheses except the moderating role of habits between intentions and continued use of social networking sites, were supported by the results. Habits were found to affect continued use of social networking sites indirectly through continued intentions.


Fluids ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thorben Helmers ◽  
Philip Kemper ◽  
Jorg Thöming ◽  
Ulrich Mießner

Microscopic multiphase flows have gained broad interest due to their capability to transfer processes into new operational windows and achieving significant process intensification. However, the hydrodynamic behavior of Taylor droplets is not yet entirely understood. In this work, we introduce a model to determine the excess velocity of Taylor droplets in square microchannels. This velocity difference between the droplet and the total superficial velocity of the flow has a direct influence on the droplet residence time and is linked to the pressure drop. Since the droplet does not occupy the entire channel cross-section, it enables the continuous phase to bypass the droplet through the corners. A consideration of the continuity equation generally relates the excess velocity to the mean flow velocity. We base the quantification of the bypass flow on a correlation for the droplet cap deformation from its static shape. The cap deformation reveals the forces of the flowing liquids exerted onto the interface and allows estimating the local driving pressure gradient for the bypass flow. The characterizing parameters are identified as the bypass length, the wall film thickness, the viscosity ratio between both phases and the C a number. The proposed model is adapted with a stochastic, metaheuristic optimization approach based on genetic algorithms. In addition, our model was successfully verified with high-speed camera measurements and published empirical data.


Author(s):  
Anne-Aziliz Pelleter ◽  
Gaëlle Prouteau ◽  
Bruno Scaillet

Abstract We performed phase equilibrium experiments on a natural Ca-poor pelite at 3 GPa, 750-1000 °C, under moderately oxidizing conditions, simulating the partial melting of such lithologies in subduction zones. Experiments investigated the effect of sulphur addition on phase equilibria and compositions, with S contents of up to ∼ 2.2 wt. %. Run products were characterized for their major and trace element contents, in order to shed light on the role of sulphur on the trace element patterns of melts produced by partial melting of oceanic Ca-poor sediments. Results show that sulphur addition leads to the replacement of phengite by biotite along with the progressive consumption of garnet, which is replaced by an orthopyroxene-kyanite assemblage at the highest sulphur content investigated. All Fe-Mg silicate phases produced with sulphur, including melt, have higher MgO/(MgO+FeO) ratios (relative to S-free/poor conditions), owing to Fe being primarily locked up by sulphide in the investigated redox range. Secular infiltration of the mantle wedge by such MgO and K2O-rich melts may have contributed to the Mg and K-rich character of the modern continental crust. Addition of sulphur does not affect significantly the stability of the main accessory phases controlling the behaviour of trace elements (monazite, rutile and zircon), although our results suggest that monazite solubility is sensitive to S content at the conditions investigated. The low temperature (∼ 800 °C) S-bearing and Ca-poor sediment sourced slab melts show Th and La abundances, Th/La systematics and HFSE signatures in agreement with the characteristics of sediment-rich arc magmas. Because high S contents diminish phengite and garnet stabilities, S-rich and Ca-poor sediment sourced slab melts have higher contents of Rb, B, Li (to a lesser extent), and HREE. The highest ratios of La/Yb are observed in sulphur-poor runs (with a high proportion of garnet, which retains HREE) and beyond the monazite out curve (which retains LREE). Sulphides appear to be relatively Pb-poor and impart high Pb/Ce ratio to coexisting melts, even at high S content. Overall, our results show that Phanerozoic arc magmas from high sediment flux margins owe their geochemical signature to the subduction of terrigenous, sometimes S-rich, sediments. In contrast, subduction of such lithologies during Archean appears unlikely or unrecorded.


2021 ◽  
pp. 002193472110115
Author(s):  
Keisha-Khan Y. Perry ◽  
Anani Dzidzienyo

This essay provides a brief introduction to this special issue focused on the life and work of Black Brazilian scholar-activist Abdias Nascimento. The contributors include, Vera Lucia Benedito, Ollie Johnson, Zachary Morgan, Elisa Larkin Nascimento, and Cheryl Sterling who all participated in a 2015 conference at Africana Studies at Brown University. This group of scholars aptly illustrate that Nascimento had long contributed to the internationalization of Black Studies as a field in US academe and he was crucial in establishing Brazil as a central component of the Black World. The essays have much to teach us about Nascimento’s views on the relationship between art and politics, the role of military service in shaping his activism, the significance of black politicians in the reconceptualization of Brazilian democracy, and the importance of preserving archives and expanding our understanding of the Black radical tradition.


1985 ◽  
Vol 49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Stutzmann ◽  
Warren B. Jackson ◽  
Chuang Chuang Tsai

AbstractThe dependence of the creation and the annealing of metastable dangling bonds in hydrogenated amorphous silicon on various material parameters will be discussed in the context of a recently proposed model. After a brief review of the kinetic behaviour governing defect creation and annealing in undoped a- Si:H, a number of special cases will be analyzed: the influence of alloying with O, N, C, and Ge, changes introduced by doping and compensation, and the role of mechanical stress. Finally, possibilities to increase the stability of a-Si:H based devices will be examined.


2003 ◽  
Vol 36 ◽  
pp. 66-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Truffer ◽  
Keith A. Echelmeyer

AbstractFast-flowing ice streams and outlet glaciers provide the major avenues for ice flow from past and present ice sheets. These ice streams move faster than the surrounding ice sheet by a factor of 100 or more. Several mechanisms for fast ice-stream flow have been identified, leading to a spectrum of different ice-stream types. In this paper we discuss the two end members of this spectrum, which we term the “ice-stream” type (represented by the Siple Coast ice streams in West Antarctica) and the “isbræ” type (represented by Jakobshavn Isbræ in Greenland). The typical ice stream is wide, relatively shallow (∼1000 m), has a low surface slope and driving stress (∼10 kPa), and ice-stream location is not strongly controlled by bed topography. Fast flow is possible because the ice stream has a slippery bed, possibly underlain by weak, actively deforming sediments. The marginal shear zones are narrow and support most of the driving stress, and the ice deforms almost exclusively by transverse shear. The margins seem to be inherently unstable; they migrate, and there are plausible mechanisms for such ice streams to shut down. The isbræ type of ice stream is characterized by very high driving stresses, often exceeding 200 kPa. They flow through deep bedrock channels that are significantly deeper than the surrounding ice, and have steep surface slopes. Ice deformation includes vertical as well as lateral shear, and basal motion need not contribute significantly to the overall motion. The marginal shear zone stend to be wide relative to the isbræ width, and the location of isbræ and its margins is strongly controlled by bedrock topography. They are stable features, and can only shut down if the high ice flux cannot be supplied from the adjacent ice sheet. Isbræs occur in Greenland and East Antarctica, and possibly parts of Pine Island and Thwaites Glaciers, West Antarctica. In this paper, we compare and contrast the two types of ice streams, addressing questions such as ice deformation, basal motion, subglacial hydrology, seasonality of ice flow, and stability of the ice streams.


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