Articles | Volume 16, issue 6
The Cryosphere, 16, 2617–2628, 2022
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2617-2022
The Cryosphere, 16, 2617–2628, 2022
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2617-2022
Research article
29 Jun 2022
Research article | 29 Jun 2022

Formation of glacier tables caused by differential ice melting: field observation and modelling

Marceau Hénot et al.

Data sets

The S2M meteorological and snow cover reanalysis in the French mountainous areas (1958-present) M. Vernay, M. Lafaysse, P. Hagenmuller, R. Nheili, D. Verfaillie, and S. Morin https://doi.org/10.25326/37#v2020.2

Model code and software

Pointing interface M. Hénot https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6683570

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Short summary
Glacier tables are structures frequently encountered on temperate glaciers. They consist of a rock supported by a narrow ice foot which forms through differential melting of the ice. In this article, we investigate their formation by following their dynamics on the Mer de Glace (the Alps, France). We explain this phenomenon by a combination of the effect of turbulent flux, short-wave flux and direct solar radiation that sets a critical size above which a rock will form a glacier table.