ARCUS | Arctic Research Consortium of the United States

7th Annual ARCUS Award for Arctic Research Excellence

Honorable Mention Physical Science
Submitted by   Hans-Peter Marshall
Authors   Hans-Peter Marshall, J. T. Harper, W. T. Pfeffer, and N. F. Humphrey
Category   Physical Science
Title   Depth-Varying Constitutive Properties Observed in an Isothermal Glacier
Affiliation   Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA

Abstract

Detailed three-dimensional in-situ measurements of deformation at depth are used to examine the rheology of a 6 x 106 m3 block of temperate glacier ice. Assuming that the viscosity of this ice is primarily dependent on stress, the relationship between inferred stress and measurements of strain-rate above ~115 m depth suggest a constitutive relationship with a stress exponent n ~ 1. Deformation below 115 m is described by a non-linear flow law with a power exponent of approximately 3–4. A sharp transition between the two flow regimes is likely caused by a change in the dominant mechanism from superplastic flow, basal slip, and/or diffusional flow near the surface to dislocation and intragranular deformation at depth.