scholarly journals A mass-flux perspective of the tidewater glacier cycle

2016 ◽  
Vol 62 (231) ◽  
pp. 82-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
JASON M. AMUNDSON
Keyword(s):  
Deep Water ◽  
Mass Flux ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Stable Configuration ◽  
Simple Explanation ◽  
Surface Mass ◽  
Tidewater Glaciers ◽  
Tidewater Glacier ◽  
Variable Sensitivity ◽  
Negative Feedbacks

AbstractI explore the tidewater glacier cycle with a 1-D, depth- and width-integrated flow model that includes a mass-flux calving parameterization. The parameterization is developed from mass continuity arguments and relates the calving rate to the terminus velocity and the terminus balance velocity. The model demonstrates variable sensitivity to climate. From an advanced, stable configuration, a small warming of the climate triggers a rapid retreat that causes large-scale drawdown and is enhanced by positive glacier-dynamic feedbacks. Eventually, the terminus retreats out of deep water and the terminus velocity decreases, resulting in reduced drawdown and the potential for restabilization. Terminus readvance can be initiated by cooling the climate. Terminus advance into deep water is difficult to sustain, however, due to negative feedbacks between glacier dynamics and surface mass balance. Despite uncertainty in the precise form of the parameterization, the model provides a simple explanation of the tidewater glacier cycle and can be used to evaluate the response of tidewater glaciers to climate variability. It also highlights the importance of improving parameterizations of calving rates and of incorporating sediment dynamics into tidewater glacier models.

scholarly journals Terminus-driven retreat of a major southwest Greenland tidewater glacier during the early 19th century: insights from glacier reconstructions and numerical modelling

2014 ◽  
Vol 60 (220) ◽  
pp. 333-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
James M. Lea ◽  
Douglas W.F. Mair ◽  
Faezeh M. Nick ◽  
Brice R. Rea ◽  
Anker Weidick ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Relative Sensitivity ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Early 19Th Century ◽  
Surface Mass ◽  
Tidewater Glaciers ◽  
Glacier Terminus ◽  
Tidewater Glacier ◽  
Historical Accounts ◽  
Instrumental Records ◽  
Southwest Greenland

AbstractTidewater glaciers in Greenland experienced widespread retreat during the last century. Information on their behaviour prior to this is often poorly constrained due to lack of observations, while determining the drivers prior to instrumental records is also problematic. Here we present a record of the dynamics of Kangiata Nunaata Sermia (KNS), southwest Greenland, from its Little Ice Age maximum (LIAmax) to 1859 – the period before continuous air temperature observations began at Nuuk in 1866. Using glacial geomorphology, historical accounts, photographs and GIS analyses, we provide evidence KNS was at its LIAmax by 1761, had retreated by ~5 km by 1808 and a further 7 km by 1859. This predates retreat at Jakobshavn Isbræ by 43–113 years, demonstrating the asynchroneity of tidewater glacier terminus response following the LIA. We use a one-dimensional flowband model to determine the relative sensitivity of KNS to atmospheric and oceanic climate forcing. Results demonstrate that terminus forcing rather than surface mass balance drove the retreat. Modelled glacier sensitivity to submarine melt rates is also insufficient to explain the retreat observed. However, moderate increases in crevasse water depth, driving an increase in calving, are capable of causing terminus retreat of the observed magnitude and timing.

scholarly journals Stable dynamics in a Greenland tidewater glacier over 26 years despite reported thinning

2012 ◽  
Vol 53 (60) ◽  
pp. 241-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne L. Bevan ◽  
Tavi Murray ◽  
Adrian J. Luckman ◽  
Edward Hanna ◽  
Philippe Huybrechts
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Mass Balance ◽  
Surface Flow ◽  
Velocity Variation ◽  
Surface Mass Balance ◽  
Surface Mass ◽  
Tidewater Glaciers ◽  
Tidewater Glacier ◽  
Flow Speeds ◽  
Average Size

AbstractDaugaard Jensen Gletscher, Greenland, is a large tidewater glacier terminating in the northwest corner of the Scoresby Sund fjords. We present a time series of surface flow speeds spanning 1985–2010 based on feature tracking of satellite images. The time series confirms that flow speeds remained stable and reveals a persistent summer acceleration of up to 10% over the lower 10 km of the glacier. The front of the 6 km floating tongue fluctuates by little more than the average size of calved icebergs, ~1 km. While we are unable to detect any imbalance between ice discharge and surface mass balance within our error estimates, observations suggest that the region is losing mass and experiencing decreases in surface elevation. We conclude that as flow speeds and surface mass balance have remained steady since 1985, the shift from balance to imbalance, leading to elevation decrease, must have occurred prior to this date. As for other stable Greenland tidewater glaciers, the seasonal melt cycle is the dominant influence on flow velocity variation but, if the apparent current thinning rates continue, there is potential for the grounding line to retreat, for calving rates to increase and for the glacier to accelerate.

scholarly journals Free Convective MHD Flow Past a Vertical Cone with Variable Heat and Mass Flux

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Prakash ◽  
S. Gouse Mohiddin ◽  
S. Vijaya Kumar Varma
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Power Law ◽  
Mass Flux ◽  
Numerical Study ◽  
Convection Boundary Layer ◽  
Vertical Cone ◽  
Local Skin ◽  
Surface Mass ◽  
Flow Past ◽  
Power Law Exponent

A numerical study of buoyancy-driven unsteady natural convection boundary layer flow past a vertical cone embedded in a non-Darcian isotropic porous regime with transverse magnetic field applied normal to the surface is considered. The heat and mass flux at the surface of the cone is modeled as a power law according to qwx=xm and qw*(x)=xm, respectively, where x denotes the coordinate along the slant face of the cone. Both Darcian drag and Forchheimer quadratic porous impedance are incorporated into the two-dimensional viscous flow model. The transient boundary layer equations are then nondimensionalized and solved by the Crank-Nicolson implicit difference method. The velocity, temperature, and concentration fields have been studied for the effect of Grashof number, Darcy number, Forchheimer number, Prandtl number, surface heat flux power-law exponent (m), surface mass flux power-law exponent (n), Schmidt number, buoyancy ratio parameter, and semivertical angle of the cone. Present results for selected variables for the purely fluid regime are compared with the published results and are found to be in excellent agreement. The local skin friction, Nusselt number, and Sherwood number are also analyzed graphically. The study finds important applications in geophysical heat transfer, industrial manufacturing processes, and hybrid solar energy systems.

scholarly journals Characteristics of Strong Updrafts in Precipitation Systems over the Central Tropical Pacific Ocean and in the Amazon

2005 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 731-738 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas F. Anderson ◽  
Cedric A. Grainger ◽  
Jeffrey L. Stith
Keyword(s):  
Mass Flux ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission ◽  
Maximum Speed ◽  
Tropical Pacific Ocean ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Average Speed ◽  
Convective Storms ◽  
Similarities And Differences

Abstract Airborne in situ measurements of updrafts in tropical convective storms were analyzed to determine the similarities and differences between updrafts in a tropical continental and a tropical oceanic region. Two hundred fifteen updraft cores from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) component of the Large Scale Biosphere–Atmosphere (LBA) experiment (tropical continental wet season) and 377 updraft cores from the Kwajalein Experiment (KWAJEX) (tropical oceanic) were analyzed in a similar manner to that of previous studies of tropical updrafts. Average speed, maximum speed, width, and mass flux of the updraft cores from the TRMM-LBA and KWAJEX were generally similar to each other and also were similar to results from previous studies of tropical updrafts.

scholarly journals 14C in the Deep Water of the East Atlantic

Radiocarbon ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 28 (2A) ◽  
pp. 391-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reiner Schlitzer
Keyword(s):  
Deep Water ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Bottom Water ◽  
Source Parameters ◽  
Potential Temperature ◽  
Source Terms ◽  
East Atlantic ◽  
The West ◽  
Model Calculations ◽  
Inflowing Water

The renewal of east Atlantic deep water and its large-scale circulation and mixing have been studied in observed distributions of temperature, silicate, ΣCO2, and 14C. 14C variations in northeast Atlantic deep water below 3500m depth are small. Δ14C values range from − 100‰ to −125‰. 14C bottom water concentrations decrease from Δ14C =−117‰ in the Sierra Leone Basin to Δ14C = − 123‰ in the Iberian Basin and are consistent with a mean northward bottom water flow. The characteristic of the water that flows from the west Atlantic through the Romanche Trench into the east Atlantic was determined by inspection of θ/Δ14C and θ/SiO2 diagrams. A mean potential temperature of θ = 1.50 ± .05°C was found for the inflowing water. A multi-box model including circulation, mixing, and chemical source terms in the deep water has been formulated. Linear programing and least-squares techniques have been used to obtain the transport and source parameters of the model from the observed tracer fields. Model calculations reveal an inflow through the Romanche Trench from the west Atlantic, which predominates over any other inflow, of (5 ± 2) Sv (potential temperature 1.50°C), a convective turnover of (150 ± 50) years and a vertical apparent diffusivity of (4 ± 1) cm2/s. Chemical source terms are in the expected ranges.

scholarly journals Equilibria and condensates in Rossby and drift wave turbulence

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Skipp ◽  
Sergey Nazarenko
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Finite Size ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Simple Explanation ◽  
Weakly Nonlinear ◽  
Zonal Flows ◽  
Drift Wave Turbulence ◽  
Third Invariant ◽  
Thermodynamic Potentials ◽  
Singular Limits

Abstract We study the thermodynamic equilibrium spectra of the Charney- Hasegawa-Mima (CHM) equation in its weakly nonlinear limit. In this limit, the equation has three adiabatic invariants, in contrast to the two invariants of the 2D Euler or Gross-Pitaevskii equations, which are examples for comparison. We explore how the third invariant considerably enriches the variety of equilibrium spectra that the CHM system can access. In particular we characterise the singular limits of these spectra in which condensates occur, i.e. a single Fourier mode (or pair of modes) accumulate(s) a macroscopic fraction of the total invariants. We show that these equilibrium condensates provide a simple explanation for the characteristic structures observed in CHM systems of finite size: highly anisotropic zonal flows, large-scale isotropic vortices, and vortices at small scale. We show how these condensates are associated with combinations of negative thermodynamic potentials (e.g. temperature).

scholarly journals Effect of Fluctuating Surface Heat and Mass Flux on Natural Convection Flow along a Vertical Flat Plate

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharmina Hussain ◽  
Nepal C. Roy ◽  
Md. Anwar Hossain ◽  
Suvash C. Saha
Keyword(s):  
Mass Transfer ◽  
Mass Flux ◽  
Surface Heat ◽  
Asymptotic Solutions ◽  
Convection Flow ◽  
Surface Mass ◽  
Coupled Equations ◽  
Surface Mass Transfer ◽  
Stress Surface ◽  
Layer Flow

An investigation has been carried on double diffusive effect on boundary layer flow due to small amplitude oscillation in surface heat and mass flux. Extensive parametric simulations were performed in order to elucidate the effects of some important parameters, that is, Prandtl number, Schmidt number, and Buoyancy ratio parameter on flow field in conjunction with heat and mass transfer. Asymptotic solutions for low and high frequencies are obtained for the conveniently transformed governing coupled equations. Solutions are also obtained for wide ranged value of the frequency parameters. Comparisons between the asymptotic and wide ranged values are made in terms of the amplitudes and phases of the shear stress, surface heat transfer, and surface mass transfer. It has been found that the amplitudes and phase angles obtained from asymptotic solutions are found in good agreement with the finite difference solutions obtained for wide ranged value of the frequency parameter.

Impact of the choice of surface mass balance models and their calibration on large-scale glacier change projections

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lilian Schuster ◽  
David Rounce ◽  
Fabien Maussion
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Model Complexity ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Glacier Change ◽  
Surface Mass Balance ◽  
Ice Dynamics ◽  
Surface Mass ◽  
Mass Balance Models ◽  
Intercomparison Study

<p>A recent large model intercomparison study (GlacierMIP) showed that differences between the glacier models is a dominant source of uncertainty for future glacier change projections, in particular in the first half of the century.  Each glacier model has their own unique set of process representations and climate forcing methodology, which makes it impossible to determine the model components that contribute most to the projection uncertainty. This study aims to improve our understanding of the sources of large scale glacier model uncertainty using the Open Global Glacier Model (OGGM), focussing on the surface mass balance (SMB) in a first step. We calibrate and run a set of interchangeable SMB model parameterizations (e.g. monthly vs. daily, constant vs. variable lapse rates, albedo, snowpack evolution and refreezing) under controlled boundary conditions. Based on ensemble approaches, we explore the influence of (i) the parameter calibration strategy and (ii) SMB model complexity on regional to global glacier change. These uncertainties are then put in relation to a qualitative selection of other model design choices, such as the forcing climate dataset and ice dynamics model parameters. </p>

scholarly journals Distinguishing between Deep-Water Sediment Facies: Turbidites, Contourites and Hemipelagites

Geosciences ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorrik Stow ◽  
Zeinab Smillie
Keyword(s):  
Deep Water ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Tectonic Setting ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Physical Parameters ◽  
Sedimentary Characteristics ◽  
Natural Systems ◽  
Facies Types ◽  
Water Facies

The distinction between turbidites, contourites and hemipelagites in modern and ancient deep-water systems has long been a matter of controversy. This is partly because the processes themselves show a degree of overlap as part of a continuum, so that the deposit characteristics also overlap. In addition, the three facies types commonly occur within interbedded sequences of continental margin deposits. The nature of these end-member processes and their physical parameters are becoming much better known and are summarised here briefly. Good progress has also been made over the past decade in recognising differences between end-member facies in terms of their sedimentary structures, facies sequences, ichnofacies, sediment textures, composition and microfabric. These characteristics are summarised here in terms of standard facies models and the variations from these models that are typically encountered in natural systems. Nevertheless, it must be acknowledged that clear distinction is not always possible on the basis of sedimentary characteristics alone, and that uncertainties should be highlighted in any interpretation. A three-scale approach to distinction for all deep-water facies types should be attempted wherever possible, including large-scale (oceanographic and tectonic setting), regional-scale (architecture and association) and small-scale (sediment facies) observations.

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