ISSN: 2572-3103
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Dauparas J
United Kingdom
Research Article
Ice Shelves as Floating Channel Flows of Viscous Power-Law Fluids
Author(s): Banik I, Dauparas JBanik I, Dauparas J
We explain the force balance in flowing marine ice sheets and the ice shelves they often feed. Treating ice as a viscous shear-thinning power law fluid, we develop an asymptotic (late-time) theory in two cases: the presence or absence of contact with sidewalls. Most real-world situations fall somewhere between the two extreme cases considered. The solution when sidewalls are absent is a fairly simple generalization of that found by Robison (JFM, 648, 363). In this case, we obtain the equilibrium grounding line thickness using a simple computer model and have an analytic approximation. For shelves in contact with sidewalls, we obtain an asymptotic theory valid for long shelves. We determine when this is. Our theory is based on the velocity profile across the channel being a generalized version of Poiseuille flow, which works when lateral shear dominates the force balance. We conducted .. View More»
DOI:
10.4172/2572-3103.1000150