Ice on Earth: An overview and examples on physical properties

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1 Ice on Earth: An overview and examples on physical properties - Ice on Earth during the Pleistocene - Present-day polar and temperate ice masses - Transformation of snow to ice - Mass balance, ice deformation, flow of glaciers and ice sheets. Thorsteinn Thorsteinsson Session # 23, Monday 1/17/05

2 Arctic: Up to 4 km deep ice-covered ocean surrounded by land masses. Antarctic: Up to 4 km thick ice sheet surrounded by oceans.

3 Permanent snow and ice in the Northern Hemisphere: Area Vol. Sea level 10 6 km km 3 eq. (m) Greenland Other locations Sea ice 8.87 Total NH 11.0 Greenland: Research activity focussed on ice core studies and estimation of current mass balance.

4 Antarctica: Research focus on: - Climate history from ice cores - Subglacial lakes - Possible instability of West Antarctic ice sheet SP Vostok Dome C Permanent snow and ice cover in the Southern Hemisphere: Area Volume Sea level 10 6 km km 3 eq. (m) Antarctica Other locations <0.01 <0.02 Sea ice 4.2 Total SH Total entire globe 28.3

5 The Pleistocene: Last 2-3 million years (except Holocene) Characterized by large variations in ice volume on the continents. At least 20 glacial-interglacial cycles, each lasting ka. Eemian Last interglacial ( ka BP) Wisconsin/Weichselian: Last glacial period ( ka BP) Holocene: Present interglacial (11.5 ka BP present) The Quaternary: Pleistocene + Holocene Past ice sheets: Laurentide ice sheet (covering northern part of Northern America) Scandinavian ice sheet Barents and Kara sea ice sheets Siberian ice sheet?

6 Svendsen et al., 2004 A reconstruction of Eurasian ice sheets at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, about 20,000 years before present - 20 ka/kyr BP).

7 Long-term changes in ice-sheet extent generally believed to be due to insolation variations resulting from changes in Earth s orbital parameters:

8 eccentricity obliquity precession Schematic relationship between orbital forcing and preserved paleoclimate signal in a sedimentary record (marine sediment, ice core, pollen record, etc.)

9 MIS (Marine Isotope Stage) Summer sea-surface temperature reconstruction for the North Atlantic Ocean over the last 140,000 years.

10 Holocene Wisconsin Eemian interglacial: Sea level up to 6 m higher than during the Holocene Sea level varies with changes in ice volume on the continents. Data for last 135,000 yr, radiometrically dated coral reef terraces in New Guinea.

11 In studies of past and present terrestrial ice masses we distinguish between: Polar ice: Temperature below freezing point in entire ice mass Temperate ice: Entire glacier/ice cap at freezing point, except top 15 m during winter. Polythermal ice: Part polar / part temperate Surface layers Polar ice: Seasonal variation in snow temperature down to 15 m depth (model result). Temperature below 15 m equal to mean annual temperature. Temperate ice: Winter cold wave eliminated by latent heat of refreezing meltwater. All ice below 10 m at melting point.

12 Temperature profiles through polar ice sheets: GRIP, Central Greenland (accumulation rate: 0.23 m ice/yr) 500 This profile can be modelled using the heat transfer equation, which takes into account heat conduction in the ice, and advection of heat as ice moves downward kyr 100 kyr Near-constant temperature in upper 1500 m. Ice warms towards bedrock due to the geothermal heat flux.

13 Temperature profiles through polar ice sheets: Vostok, East Antarctica (accumulation rate: m/yr) 10 kyr 100 kyr Much lower annual accumulation and thus much slower transport of cold surface ice downwards. Temperature increases steadily with depth towards bottom, where melting point is reached.

14 Transformation of snow to ice: Rounding and settling of crystals, gradual increase in crystal size and formation of bonds between crystals. Air space thus gradually decreases and density increases. Typical densities: Snow: kg/m 3 Firn: kg/m 3 Glacier ice: kg/m 3 Glacier ice (ρ > 830 kg/m 3 ) has formed when remaining air is sealed off in bubbles. The rate of transformation is highly temperature dependent: Temperate ice (0 C) Completed at m depth, takes years. Greenland ice sheet (-30 C): 70 m, 200 years East Antarctica (-55 C): 110 m, 2000 years

15 Density variation in a deep Greenland core: m Air bubbles have entirely disappeared due to pressure of overlying ice. Density (g/cm 3 ) Volume expansion due to warming of ice near bedrock.

16 Schematic of an ice sheet: Velocity vectors in a glacier:

17 A glacier is a mass of ice that deforms under its own weight! The flow law for ice :. ε = Α ο exp(-q/rt)σ n. σ = stress, ε = strain rate, Q = activation energy, R = gas constant, T = temperature is commonly used to describe the relationship between applied stress and resulting strain rate. Laboratory experiments and studies of glacier flow indicate that n~3. The deformation rate is highly dependent on temperature (5 times higher at -10 C than at -25 C). The factor Α ο varies with impurity content, crystal size and c-axis orientation.

18 Elastic deformation: Linear relationship between stress and strain (σ=eε) Newtonian viscous deformation:. Linear relationship between stress and strain rate (σ= ηε) Perfectly plastic deformation: Material does not deform until high stress (yield stress) is applied, then deforms very rapidly. Ice deformation intermediate between Newtonian viscous and perfectly plastic behaviour (n=3 curve).

19 Two mechanisms of glacier/ice sheet movement: A volume element of ice can be deformed into a different shape, without changing the total volume (incompressible material). Ice at melting point can slide over the bed. No sliding occurs if ice is frozen to the bed.

20 The regelation mechanism of basal sliding: Ice flows from left to right and encounters a bedrock bump (L < 1 m). Melting point depressed on upstream side, increased on downstream side. Heat flow through bump melts ice on upstream side and refreezing occurs on downstream side. Confirmed by observations.

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