Ice Motion: Gwendolyn Leysinger Vieli

IHCAP – Indian Himalayas Climate Change Adaptation Programme: Level-2 course
Ice motion – from the base
Gwendolyn Leysinger Vieli
IHCAP – Indian Himalayas Climate Change Adaptation Programme

Capacity building programme “Cryosphere” Level-2
Ice Motion G. Leysinger
(JanVieli,
5 –January 22,2014)
Feb 13, 2015 1
2
G. Leysinger Vieli, January 22, 2015
Borehole deformation
Ice Motion
Glacier flow: Basal motion
Flow by basal sliding (at the bed)
•  Sliding on hard bed
•  Deformation of basal sediment
m
ub ≈ C ⋅
τ bm
≈ C ⋅
( ρ ⋅ g ⋅ sin(α )⋅ h)
(Pice − Pw )k (Pice − Pw )k
∝  Shear stressm
∝  Surface slopem
∝  Ice thicknessm
•  Influence of water pressure

–  Reduced basal friction Peff=Pi-Pw: effektive pressure on bed
–  reduced Peff Pw= water pressure, Pi= ice
–  basal lubrication overburden pressure
C: sliding constant
•  Sliding only when bed at pressure melt m≈ 2-3: sliding exponent (k)
point (T≈0oC, not frozen)
Ice Motion G. Leysinger Vieli, January 22, 2015 3
Factors influencing basal sliding
•  basal temperature (warm/

temperate/sliding
temperate or cold/frozen on)
•  bed roughness
•  basal water pressure Frozen on
(lubrication) Ice stream D, Antarc8ca, ice surface (radar)
•  hard (rock) or weak (sediment) 552
(a)
C. R. STOKES AND C. D. CLARK
73° N
(b)
•  sediment concentration at bed

C
B
C Ice stream
shear margin
moraine A
'D'
Ice
str
ea
A
m
ma
rg
in
Older
flow Ice stream shear
pattern margin moraine
'C'
angefroren 0 6 km
Palaeo ice stream, Canadian arc8c, 106°50′ W

72°45′ N
106°15′ W
Ice Motion Previous glacier bed G. Leysinger Vieli, January 22, 2015 4
Figure 3. (a) Landsat TM image (band 5) showing the location of the northern ice stream shear margin moraines (C and D) on Storkerson
Peninsula, and (b) geomorphological map in relation to the ice stream bedforms and margin. Topographic transects along A, B and C
are illustrated in (b). Unlike the two moraines further south, they appear more rugged and display a lateral offset from the ice stream
margin
Table I. Dimensions of ice stream shear margin moraines on Storkerson Peninsula,

G. Leysinger Vieli, January 22, 2015 2013 5
Rhonegletscher
Ice Motion
Basal erosion: abrasion
Stria8ons
with different
direc8ons
Steingletscher (A. Vieli)

Roches moutonées
Striations
Plucked faces
Process of plucking
From: Hock/Adalgeirsdottir
Sliding over rockbed
Wet based ice – thin water film
Regelation = ‘refreezing’
underpressure overpressure
•  Increased pressure leads to
temperature difference
•  Melting on luv-side – freezing on
lee-side (pressure melting)
•  Heat flow through bump
•  Most effective over small bedrock Regelation sliding (Benn and Evans, 2010)
bumps
‘Enhanced creep’
•  Increased stress towards
bedrock bump stress concentration
•  Increased ice deformation over

bedrock bump
–  Longitudinal compression and
shearing of ice
•  Most effective for large bumps Weertman, 1957, 1964
Sliding on a hard bed – Weertman’s theory
Sliding velocity is the sum of
both contributions from regelation and enhanced creep:
u b= u R + u D
•  big obstacles:
Sliding velocity ub
uR is small
•  small obstacles:
uD is small
ac ≈ 0.5m
Obstacle size a
Influence of basal water pressure
•  High water pressure and water retention (storage)
•  Reduction of contact surface (friction concentrated on

small areas)
•  Reduction of normal stress Pn (- increase in effective

Pressure Peff)
Figure: U. Fischer

Influence of water pressure
•  Increased sliding with
increased basal water pressure
(reduced Peff)
•  Highly variable over time!
ub ∝
τ
≈
(
m
b
ρ ⋅ g ⋅ sin(α )⋅ h )
p
(Pice − Pw ) (Pice − Pw ) p
Horizontal flow veloci8es on Findelen glacier as

a func8on of depth to water level from surface
(water pressure)
Iken and Truffer, J. of Glaciology, 1997
Temporal variation of basal motion
•  fsa

Example: Greenland
‘Zwally-Effekt’ (Zwally et al 2002)
•  Increased surface melt acting onto basal motion, with short temporal
acceleration - Why?
•  Consequences for a warming climate: – increased mass loss?
Horizontal flow speed (cm/day)
PDD
See Zwally et al (2002, Science), Das et al (2008, Science)
13
Excurs into glacial hydrology
•  Most englacial water is derived from the
surface and enters the glacier via
‘moulins’
•  Moulins develop/exploit structural
weaknesses (e.g. crevasses)
•  Highly dynamic systems: water pressures
can fluctuate rapidly and moulins can be
created and abandoned rapidly (Holmlund
& Hooke, 1983)
•  Vertical profile develops into down-‐glacier
dipping passageways/conduits (Holmlund,
1988)
•  Investigated using manual descents, ice
penetrating radar and dye-‐tracing
•  Recently likened to karst systems where
internal weaknesses are exploited (Gulley
and Benn, 2007)
From Gulley et al.(2009)
From Benn & Evans (2010)

Supraglacial discharge
•  Surface runoff
–  Runoff
–  Percolation into the snow – might
refreeze
•  Melt > refreezing = runoff

Thompson Glacier, Axel Heiberg, Canadian Arctic.
•  Supraglaciale rivers from Glacier online http://www.swisseduc.ch/glaciers
–  Ablation area (mm-meter deep)
–  Influenced by slope, crevasses, layering
•  Extensive supraglacial discharge

systems on large / flat ablation
areas (e.g. greenlandic icesheet)
M. Hambrey
Ice Motion G. Leysinger
Vibeke Vieli, January
Gletscher, East 22, 2015
Greenland 15
79oNorth Glacier, Grönland
Petermann Glacier, Grönland
Englacial channels
Common morphologies in conduit formed by the exploita8on of permeable debris-‐filled crevasse traces.
Ice Motion From Gulley et al. (2009) G. Leysinger Vieli, January 22, 2015 17
Englacial meltwater discharge
In closed englacial channels
•  Important factors
–  height of the ice surface (water pressure) Theoretical equipotential surfaces and
englacial and subglacial drainage
–  height of en- or subglacial channels pathways (Paterson, 1994: p. 113)
N = Pi − Pw = ρi gh − Pw Ice overburden
pressure
Pw= 0  N = Pi Suglacial
Pw= Pi  N = 0 water pressure:
Effective pressure N (Peff)

Important for en- or subglacial discharge and basal sliding
Ice Motion 18 January 22, 2015

G. Leysinger Vieli, 18
En(sub)glacial meltwater discharge
Overpressurised water in englacial channels

Ice Motion Rhonegletscher (CH)19 G. Leysinger Vieli, January 22, 2015 19
Channel size (diameter) depends on:
•  Melt rate on the channel walls (friction) defined by the
water flux Q and pressure gradient dp/dx
dP
m ∝ Q ⋅
dx
•  Change of radius r by ice deformation, dependent on
effective pressure (N=Pi-Pw)
n
r ∝ r ⋅ ( Pi − Pw ) = r ⋅ N n
–  Closure when Pi > Pw (N>0) in the channel
–  N=0, no creep closure
➔  Change in water pressure and discharge change

channel size

dp
m ∝ Q ⋅ =
n
r ∝ r ⋅ ( Pi − Pw ) = r ⋅ N n
dx
Water channels in ice (bed)
•  Melt rates increase with increasing discharge and increasing radius
•  Increasing water pressure reduces creep closure (relatively slowly)
•  AND: if discharge increases – water level is lowering – reducing the
water pressure
•  Large channels – lowest water pressure
•  Water wants to flow to the largest channels (lowest water pressure)

En(sub)glacial discharge / discharge system
•  Englacial channels often reach the
glacier bed (moulin)
•  Subglacial water
–  Mainly from surface melt
–  Little from basal melt (mm-cm/y),
geothermal heat gradient, friction
•  Influence on basal sliding (water
pressure)

Types of subglacial
discharge systems (after
Benn and Evans, 2010):
1)  Bulk movement of water
with deforming till
2)  Darcian porewater flow
3)  Pipe flow (channels in
Sediment)
4)  Dendritic channel network
5)  Linked-cavity system
6)  Braided canal network
7)  Thin waterfilm at the ice-
bed interface
Distributed systems: Types 1, 2, 5, 6 & 7

Channelised
Ice Motion systems: Types 3 & 4 23
Benn and EG.vans
Leysinger Vieli, January 22, 2015
(2010: p. 68/69) 23
Discharge systems
•  Distributed system: 1/2/5/6/7):
–  numerous, widely distributed small channels, waterfilm
–  inefficient discharge
–  high water pressure (high sliding), inefficient drainage
•  Discrete system: 3/4):

–  few, large channels
–  efficient drainage system
–  low water pressure (low hydraulic head) (little sliding)
–  channels
•  melted into the ice, Röthlisberger-channels (R-channels)
•  cut into the basal substrate (rock/sediment), Nye-channels (N-
channels)
•  tunnels-channels/valleys: wide channels cut flat into the rock /
sediment

Subglacial discharge: channels
•  R-channel (Type 4):
–  Similar to englacial channels
–  Decreasing pressure with increasing
discharge channel (radius). Water can flow
uphill (surface slope is the dominant factor)
–  efficient drainage system
•  N-channels (Type 4):

–  Cut into the bed, stable
–  Increasing discharge with increasing
pressure (until full)
–  Channel roof (in ice) as R-channel
•  Efficient drainage system

Evidence of subglacial channels incised into the bedrock
From: Hock/Adalgeirsdottir
Subglacial discharge: linked cavity
Linked cavity system (Type 5):
•  Narrow passages between
cavities
•  Slow flow
•  Inefficient discharge system
•  Increasing discharge with
increasing water pressure
•  Cavities given by bed geometry
•  With increasing discharge
(water flux) – some passages
increase, leading to efficient
channels (R-Channel)
Linked
•  Unstable system – switch from cavity
R-Channel und back (e.g. system from
Surging) Benn and
Evans (1998:
p. 114)
Subglacial discharge: switch system
Cavity Channel
low Pw
Effec8ve pressure
Cavity Channel
high Pw
Von Schoof (2010, Nature)

Change in subglacial discharge
Sequence of dye-tracing experiments during the

melt season of Haut Glacier d’Arolla: increased
efficiency in discharge system with time (Nienow
et al., 1998)
Dye tracing on John Evans Glacier,
Canada (R. Bingham) G. Leysinger Vieli, January 22, 2015 29
Ice Motion 29
Change in subglacial discharge
•  Changes in discharge
–  Discharge peaks during the day
–  Discharge increases with melt 19-‐22
(surface) Juli
–  Amplitude increases from spring
23-‐26
to summer Juni
–  Discharge peaks earlier in late
14-‐17
summer than in spring Juni
•  Reflects the development of
subglacial discharge system 17-‐20
over the melt season Mai
(inefficient/distributed to
efficient/channelled)
Discharge from Gornergletscher,
Switzerland in 1959 (from
30
Ice Motion Hubbard and
G. Leysinger Glasser,
Vieli, 2005:
January 22, 2015 p. 67)
30
Inefficient drainage system - winter

System develops with increased melt

turns into a channelised drainage system

Switching systems over the season
The drainage system changes as the melt season progresses:
With increasing melt water the system switches from isolated water pockets, to a
distributed system and to a channel system

Ice stream flow
Siple Coast ice streams, Antarc8ca (I. Joughin)
Flow velocity Radar image of surface
A
1 km/y
B B
C
D 1-‐2m/y 50km
E
E
Ice Motion On ice stream D (I. Joughin) G. Leysinger Vieli, January 22, 2015 35
Ice stream flow (Siple Coast)
Surface
Glacier
•  Basal driving stress very Flow speed
small (<10kPa; α≈0.1o

h≈1000m)
Depth
•  Cold ice (<-20oC; difficult to
Bed
deform)
Mostly ice deformation s
•  Nearly no internal ice
deformation
Ice stream
•  High basal motion Surface
Flow speed
–  (sliding)
–  Sediment deformation
Depth
•  Temperate bed
•  High basal water pressure Bed
(Peff near 0) Sliding

Basal sediment deformation
•  Soft subglacial (basal) sediment (Till) being deformed (viscous)
•  Under high pressure, water saturated (Pw large)
•  Depends on the shear strength of the sediment
–  function of the water pressure in the sediment
–  Depends on sediment properties (‘angle of friction’, thin/coarse))
•  Also plastic sediment deformation (localised on thin layer, over longer
time similar effect)
Displacement of markers
in basal sediment below
Breidamerkurjökull
(Island, from Boulton and
Hindmarsh, 1987)

Basal freeze on of ice stream C
Surface elevation change for Antarctica
(Pritchard et al 2009, Nature).
Switch off of ice stream C
a few hundred years ago
(basal freeze on – reduced
basal flow - thickening).

Summary ice motion – from the base
Observations of surface velocities show:
•  Strong temporal variation, hours/days up to seasonal (or
longer)
•  Ice temperature changes only slowly – not due to internal
deformation
τ bm
èbasal sliding ub ∝
(Pice − Pw ) p
•  Water pressure (hourly to seasonal)
•  cold/warm (longer timescales, see ice stream C)
Effective pressure (important)

N = Pi − Pw = ρi gh − Pw

Summary – subglacial discharge system
‘discrete’ and ‘distributed’ systems!
•  Distributed system "
–  Many small connections and cavities at the
bed"
–  Inefficient Discharge"
–  High water pressure and"
–  High sliding"
•  Channeled systems"
–  A few large channels"
–  Efficent Discharge "
–  Low water pressure and"
–  Little sliding"
•  Switching systems over the season"

Exercise:
Speed-up event Flow velocity
on Hansbreen
(Svalbard, Arktis)
Water level
measured in
moulin
Air temperature
Vieli et al.
2004, Journal
of Glaciology
41
Exercise - discussion
1.  - Time span of peak; - water level relative from
beginning; -peak reaching flotation – glacier uplift; -
dropping substantially below initial level; - slow gradual
rise later on; - on top daily variations
2.  - With rising air temperature rise in surface melt; -after
temperature peak back to the initial values of surface
melt; increase in water level with increasing surface
melt; -inefficient system with increasing discharge rise in
water pressure (distributed system); - drop in water level
despite continued water input from surface melt; -
distributed system developed into an efficient channeled
system; -gradual rise in water level; - creep closure of
channels and switching back to inefficient system.

Exercise - discussion
3. – Velocity peak reflects rise in water pressure; - inverse
relationship of velocity to effective pressure; - velocity drops
with drop in water pressure; - velocities lower after event
despite continued input of surface melt water; - amplitude
of velocity peak is larger than amplitude in water level
3.a –speed up event ends due to water pressure drop
3.b – velocities lower because of an efficient drainage
system
4. – expect average annual flow speed to decrease; - melt
season starting earlier – high melt leading to efficient
subglacial drainage system & starting earlier; - low water
pressure (high effective pressure) leading to less sliding;

Ice Motion: Gwendolyn Leysinger Vieli

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IHCAP – Indian Himalayas Climate Change Adaptation Programme: Level-2 course

Ice motion – from the base

Gwendolyn Leysinger Vieli

IHCAP – Indian Himalayas Climate Change Adaptation Programme

• Influence of water pressure

• basal temperature (warm/

• sediment concentration at bed

Palaeo ice stream, Canadian arc8c, 106°50′ W

Table I. Dimensions of ice stream shear margin moraines on Storkerson Peninsula,

Ice Motion G. Leysinger Vieli, January 22, 2015 6

• Increased ice deformation over

• High water pressure and water retention (storage)

• Reduction of contact surface (friction concentrated on

• Reduction of normal stress Pn (- increase in effective

Figure: U. Fischer

Horizontal ﬂow veloci8es on Findelen glacier as

Ice Motion G. Leysinger Vieli, January 22, 2015 12

From Benn & Evans (2010)

• Melt > refreezing = runoff

• Extensive supraglacial discharge

In closed englacial channels

Effective pressure N (Peff)

Ice Motion 18 January 22, 2015

Overpressurised water in englacial channels

➔ Change in water pressure and discharge change

Ice Motion G. Leysinger Vieli, January 22, 2015 20

Ice Motion 21 January 22, 2015

Ice Motion 22 January 22, 2015

Distributed systems: Types 1, 2, 5, 6 & 7

• Discrete system: 3/4):

Ice Motion 24 January 22, 2015

• N-channels (Type 4):

Ice Motion 25 January 22, 2015

Von Schoof (2010, Nature)

Sequence of dye-tracing experiments during the

Ice Motion G. Leysinger Vieli, January 22, 2015 31

Ice Motion G. Leysinger Vieli, January 22, 2015 32

Ice Motion G. Leysinger Vieli, January 22, 2015 33

Ice Motion G. Leysinger Vieli, January 22, 2015 34

small (<10kPa; α≈0.1o

(Peff near 0) Sliding

Ice Motion G. Leysinger Vieli, January 22, 2015 37

Ice Motion G. Leysinger Vieli, January 22, 2015 38

Effective pressure (important)

Ice Motion G. Leysinger Vieli, January 22, 2015 39

• Switching systems over the season"

Ice Motion 40 January 22, 2015

Ice Motion G. Leysinger Vieli, January 22, 2015 42

Ice Motion G. Leysinger Vieli, January 22, 2015 43

Anda mungkin juga menyukai

•  Influence of water pressure

•  basal temperature (warm/

•  sediment concentration at bed

•  Increased ice deformation over

•  High water pressure and water retention (storage)

•  Reduction of contact surface (friction concentrated on

•  Reduction of normal stress Pn (- increase in effective

•  Melt > refreezing = runoff

•  Extensive supraglacial discharge

➔  Change in water pressure and discharge change

•  Discrete system: 3/4):

•  N-channels (Type 4):

•  Switching systems over the season"