Articles | Volume 17, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1967-2023
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1967-2023
Research article
 | 
10 May 2023
Research article |  | 10 May 2023

A model of the weathering crust and microbial activity on an ice-sheet surface

Tilly Woods and Ian J. Hewitt

Model code and software

Weathering crust and microbial activity code Tilly Woods https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7199159

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Short summary
Solar radiation causes melting at and just below the surface of the Greenland ice sheet, forming a porous surface layer known as the weathering crust. The weathering crust is home to many microbes, and the growth of these microbes is linked to the melting of the weathering crust and vice versa. We use a mathematical model to investigate what controls the size and structure of the weathering crust, the number of microbes within it, and its sensitivity to climate change.