Modelling debris transport within glaciers by advection in a full-Stokes ice flow model
Glaciers with extensive surface debris cover respond differently to climate forcing than those without supraglacial debris. In order to include debris-covered glaciers in projections of glaciogenic runoff and sea level rise and to understand the paleoclimate proxy recorded by such glaciers, it i...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2018-01-01
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| Series: | The Cryosphere |
| Online Access: | https://www.the-cryosphere.net/12/189/2018/tc-12-189-2018.pdf |
| Summary: | Glaciers with extensive surface debris
cover respond differently to climate forcing than those without supraglacial
debris. In order to include debris-covered glaciers in projections of
glaciogenic runoff and sea level rise and to understand the paleoclimate
proxy recorded by such glaciers, it is necessary to understand the manner and
timescales over which a supraglacial debris cover develops. Because debris is
delivered to the glacier by processes that are heterogeneous in space and
time, and these debris inclusions are altered during englacial transport
through the glacier system, correctly determining where, when and how much
debris is delivered to the glacier surface requires knowledge of englacial
transport pathways and deformation. To achieve this, we present a model of
englacial debris transport in which we couple an advection scheme to a
full-Stokes ice flow model. The model performs well in numerical benchmark
tests, and we present both 2-D and 3-D glacier test cases that, for a set of
prescribed debris inputs, reproduce the englacial features, deformation
thereof and patterns of surface emergence predicted by theory and
observations of structural glaciology. In a future step, coupling this model
to (i) a debris-aware surface mass balance scheme and (ii) a supraglacial
debris transport scheme will enable the co-evolution of
debris cover and glacier geometry
to be modelled. |
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| ISSN: | 1994-0416 1994-0424 |