Articles | Volume 17, issue 7
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2701-2023
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2701-2023
Brief communication
 | 
12 Jul 2023
Brief communication |  | 12 Jul 2023

Brief communication: Is vertical shear in an ice shelf (still) negligible?

Chris Miele, Timothy C. Bartholomaus, and Ellyn M. Enderlin

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Cited articles

Bondzio, J. H., Seroussi, H., Morlighem, M., Kleiner, T., Rückamp, M., Humbert, A., and Larour, E. Y.: Modelling calving front dynamics using a level-set method: application to Jakobshavn Isbræ, West Greenland, The Cryosphere, 10, 497–510, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-497-2016, 2016. a
Bueler, E. and Brown, J.: Shallow shelf approximation as a “sliding law” in a thermomechanically coupled ice sheet model, J. Geophys. Res.-Sol. Ea., 114, 1–21, https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JF001179, 2009. a
Cuffey, K. M. and Paterson, W. S. B.: The Physics of Glaciers, Butterworth-Heinemann, Burlington, MA, 4th edn., https://doi.org/10.3189/002214311796405906, 2010. a, b
Greve, R. and Blatter, H.: Dynamics of Ice Sheets and Glaciers, Springer, Berlin, https://doi.org/10.3189/002214311798043717, 2009. a, b
Gudmundsson, G. H.: Ice-shelf buttressing and the stability of marine ice sheets, The Cryosphere, 7, 647–655, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-647-2013, 2013. a
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Short summary
Vertical shear stress (the stress orientation usually associated with vertical gradients in horizontal velocities) is a key component of the stress balance of ice shelves. However, partly due to historical assumptions, vertical shear is often misspoken of today as negligible in ice shelf models. We address this miscommunication, providing conceptual guidance regarding this often misrepresented stress. Fundamentally, vertical shear is required to balance thickness gradients in ice shelves.