Journal
ANNALS OF GLACIOLOGY
Volume 54, Issue 63, Pages 1-10Publisher
CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.3189/2013AoG63A256
Keywords
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Funding
- US National Science Foundation [ANT-0944248, ANT-0838811, ARC-0934534]
- Directorate For Geosciences
- Office of Polar Programs (OPP) [0934534, 0838811] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Office of Polar Programs (OPP)
- Directorate For Geosciences [0944248] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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A conspicuous precursor of catastrophic ice-shelf break-up along the Antarctic Peninsula, reported widely in the literature, is the gradual increase in surface melting and consequent proliferation of supraglacial lakes and dolines. Here we present analytical and numerical solutions for the flexure stresses within an ice shelf covered by lakes and dolines, both isolated and arrayed. We conclude that surface water promotes ice-shelf instability in two ways: (1) by water-assisted crevasse penetration, as previously noted, and (2) by the inducement of strong tensile flexure stresses (exceeding background spreading stress by 10-100 times) in response to surface water mass loads and 'hydrostatic rebound' occurring when meltwater lakes drain.
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