Articles | Volume 10, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-497-2016
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-497-2016
Research article
 | 
03 Mar 2016
Research article |  | 03 Mar 2016

Modelling calving front dynamics using a level-set method: application to Jakobshavn Isbræ, West Greenland

Johannes H. Bondzio, Hélène Seroussi, Mathieu Morlighem, Thomas Kleiner, Martin Rückamp, Angelika Humbert, and Eric Y. Larour

Related authors

Enthalpy benchmark experiments for numerical ice sheet models
T. Kleiner, M. Rückamp, J. H. Bondzio, and A. Humbert
The Cryosphere, 9, 217–228, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-217-2015,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-217-2015, 2015
Short summary

Related subject area

Numerical Modelling
Regularization and L-curves in ice sheet inverse models: a case study in the Filchner–Ronne catchment
Michael Wolovick, Angelika Humbert, Thomas Kleiner, and Martin Rückamp
The Cryosphere, 17, 5027–5060, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-5027-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-5027-2023, 2023
Short summary
Quantifying the uncertainty in the Eurasian ice-sheet geometry at the Penultimate Glacial Maximum (Marine Isotope Stage 6)
Oliver G. Pollard, Natasha L. M. Barlow, Lauren J. Gregoire, Natalya Gomez, Víctor Cartelle, Jeremy C. Ely, and Lachlan C. Astfalck
The Cryosphere, 17, 4751–4777, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4751-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4751-2023, 2023
Short summary
Simulating ice segregation and thaw consolidation in permafrost environments with the CryoGrid community model
Juditha Aga, Julia Boike, Moritz Langer, Thomas Ingeman-Nielsen, and Sebastian Westermann
The Cryosphere, 17, 4179–4206, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4179-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4179-2023, 2023
Short summary
Reconciling ice dynamics and bed topography with a versatile and fast ice thickness inversion
Thomas Frank, Ward J. J. van Pelt, and Jack Kohler
The Cryosphere, 17, 4021–4045, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4021-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4021-2023, 2023
Short summary
The stability of present-day Antarctic grounding lines – Part 2: Onset of irreversible retreat of Amundsen Sea glaciers under current climate on centennial timescales cannot be excluded
Ronja Reese, Julius Garbe, Emily A. Hill, Benoît Urruty, Kaitlin A. Naughten, Olivier Gagliardini, Gaël Durand, Fabien Gillet-Chaulet, G. Hilmar Gudmundsson, David Chandler, Petra M. Langebroek, and Ricarda Winkelmann
The Cryosphere, 17, 3761–3783, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3761-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3761-2023, 2023
Short summary

Cited articles

Benn, D. I., Warren, C. R., and Mottram, R. H.: Calving processes and the dynamics of calving glaciers, Earth-Sci. Rev., 82, 143–179, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2007.02.002, 2007.
Brown, C., Meier, M., and Post, A.: Calving speed of Alaska tidewater Glaciers, with application to Columbia Glacier, Alaska, US Geological Survey Professional Paper, 1258-C, 13 pp., 1982.
Chang, Y.-C., Hou, T., Merriman, B., and Osher, S.: A level set formulation of Eulerian interface capturing methods for incompressible fluid flows, J. Comput. Phys., 124, 449–464, 1996.
Courant, R., Friedrichs, K., and Lewy, H.: Über die Partiellen Differenzengleichungen der Mathematischen Physik, Math. Ann., 100, 32–74, 1928.
Cuffey, K. M. and Paterson, W. S. B.: The Physics of Glaciers, Elsevier, Burlington, Mass., 2010.
Download
Short summary
We implemented a level-set method in the ice sheet system model. This method allows us to dynamically evolve a calving front subject to user-defined calving rates. We apply the method to Jakobshavn Isbræ, West Greenland, and study its response to calving rate perturbations. We find its behaviour strongly dependent on the calving rate, which was to be expected. Both reduced basal drag and rheological shear margin weakening sustain the acceleration of this dynamic outlet glacier.