An empirical approach for estimating stress-coupling lengths for marine-terminating glaciers
Frontiers in Earth Science
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Abstract
Variability in the dynamic behavior of marine-terminating glaciers is poorly understood, despite an increase in the abundance and
resolution of observations. When paired with ice thicknesses, surface velocities can be used to quantify the dynamic redistribution of stresses in response to environmental perturbations through computation of the glacier force balance. However, because the force balance is not purely local, force balance calculations must be performed at the spatial scale over which stresses are transferred within glacier ice, or the stress-coupling length (SCL).
Here we present a new empirical method to estimate the SCL for marine-terminating glaciers using high-resolution observations. We use the empirically-determined periodicity in resistive stress oscillations as a proxy for the SCL. Application of our empirical method to two well-studied tidewater glaciers (Helheim Glacier, SE Greenland, and Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA) demonstrates that SCL estimates obtained using this approach are consistent with theory (i.e., can be parameterized as a function of the ice thickness) and with prior, independent SCL estimates. In order to accurately resolve stress variations, we suggest that similar empirical stress-coupling parameterizations be employed in future analyses of glacier dynamics.
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | An empirical approach for estimating stress-coupling lengths for marine-terminating glaciers |
| Series title | Frontiers in Earth Science |
| DOI | 10.3389/feart.2016.00104 |
| Volume | 4 |
| Year Published | 2016 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| Contributing office(s) | Alaska Science Center |
| Description | 12 p. |
| First page | 1 |
| Last page | 12 |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |