Physics
Scientific paper
Jan 2007
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007georl..3401501v&link_type=abstract
Geophysical Research Letters, Volume 34, Issue 1, CiteID L01501
Physics
23
Cryosphere: Ice Sheets, Cryosphere: Dynamics, Cryosphere: Glaciology (1621, 1827, 1863), Cryosphere: General Or Miscellaneous
Scientific paper
Propagation of water-filled crevasses through glaciers is investigated based on the linear elastic fracture mechanics approach. A crevasse will penetrate to the depth where the stress intensity factor at the crevasse tip equals the fracture toughness of glacier ice. A crevasse subjected to inflow of water will continue to propagate downward with the propagation speed controlled primarily by the rate of water injection. While the far-field tensile stress and fracture toughness determine where crevasses can form, once initiated, the rate of water-driven crevasse propagation is nearly independent of these two parameters. Thus, rapid transfer of surface meltwater to the bed of a cold glacier requires abundant ponding at the surface to initiate and sustain full thickness fracturing before refreezing occurs.
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