Tides Widen Ice Cracks

When icebergs calve off of Arctic and Antarctic coastlines, it affects glacial flows upstream as well as local mixing between fresh- and seawater. A recent study points to ocean tides as a major factor in widening the ice cracks that lead to calving. The team built a simplified mathematical model of an ice shelf, taking into account the ice’s viscoelasticity, local tides, and winds. Then they compared the model’s predictions with satellite, GPS, and radar data of Antarctica’s Brunt Ice Shelf, where an iceberg the size of Greater London broke off in 2023.

Between their model and the observation data, the team was able to show that the crack that preceded calving consistently grew during the spring tides, when tidal forces were at their strongest. The work gives us one more clue for refining our predictions of when major calving events are likely. (Image and research credit: O. Marsh et al.; via Gizmodo)

#calving #fluidDynamics #iceShelf #iceberg #oceanTides #physics #science #viscoelasticity

https://science.nasa.gov/resource/video-greenland-ice-mass-loss-2002-2023/

"The #Greenland #ice #sheet's mass has rapidly declined in the last several #years due to #surface #melting and #iceberg #calving. #Research based on #satellite #data indicates that between 2002 and 2023, Greenland shed an average of 270 billion metric tons of ice per year, adding to #global #sea leve"l rise.

Warmer oceans might cause #glaciers to break apart more quickly.
A 6.5-mile #crack formed in 2012 on Pine Island Glacier— a retreating ice shelf that holds back the larger West Antarctic ice sheet — in about 5 and a half minutes.
The rift opened at about 115 feet per second, or about💥 80 miles per hour.💥
This shows that under certain circumstances, an ice shelf can #shatter. It tells us we need to look out for this type of behavior in the future,
A #rift is a crack that passes all the way through the roughly 1,000 feet of floating ice for a typical Antarctic ice shelf.
These cracks are the precursor to ice shelf #calving, in which large chunks of ice break off a glacier and fall into the sea.
Such events happen often at Pine Island Glacier
— the iceberg observed in the study has long since separated from the continent.

https://scitechdaily.com/the-80-mph-glacier-fracture-a-wake-up-call-from-antarctica/

"Layers of Old Glacial Blue Ice”

Exposed layers of old glacial blue ice allow you to look back into the changing climate over time

https://www.chrisboese.photo/warehouse-open-edition-prints/art_print_products/glacier-close-bitter-cold

#mountains #ocean #clouds #art #photography #alaska #glacier #layers #calving #blueice #mastoart #mastodonart #timboese #boesegalleries

If you're an #IceSheetModelling #scientist, interested in #Calving + #Icebergs then #CaMIP might be for you...

#SeaLevelRise #Glaciology
#ProtectSLR

https://github.com/JRowanJordan/CalvingMIP/wiki/_history