Articles | Volume 19, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-2087-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-2087-2025
Research article
 | 
19 Jun 2025
Research article |  | 19 Jun 2025

Viscoelastic mechanics of tidally induced lake drainage in the grounding zone

Hanwen Zhang, Richard F. Katz, and Laura A. Stevens

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Cited articles

Antropova, Y. K., Mueller, D., Samsonov, S. V., Komarov, A. S., Bonneau, J., and Crawford, A. J.: Grounding-line retreat of Milne Glacier, Ellesmere Island, Canada over 1966–2023 from satellite, airborne, and ground radar data, Remote Sens. Environ., 315, 114478, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2024.114478, 2024. a
Banwell, A. F., MacAyeal, D. R., and Sergienko, O. V.: Breakup of the Larsen B Ice Shelf triggered by chain reaction drainage of supraglacial lakes, Geophys. Res. Lett., 40, 5872–5876, https://doi.org/10.1002/2013GL057694, 2013. a
Banwell, A. F., Willis, I. C., Macdonald, G. J., Goodsell, B., and MacAyeal, D. R.: Direct measurements of ice-shelf flexure caused by surface meltwater ponding and drainage, Nat. Commun., 10, 730, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-08522-5, 2019. a, b
Borstad, C., Khazendar, A., Larour, E., Morlighem, M., Rignot, E., Schodlok, M., and Seroussi, H.: A damage mechanics assessment of the Larsen B ice shelf prior to collapse: toward a physically-based calving law, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L18502, https://doi.org/10.1029/2012GL053317, 2012. a, b
Chen, H., Rignot, E., Scheuchl, B., and Ehrenfeucht, S.: Grounding zone of Amery Ice Shelf, Antarctica, from differential synthetic-aperture radar interferometry, Geophys. Res. Lett., 50, e2022GL102430, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL102430, 2023. a
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In Antarctica, supraglacial lakes often form near grounding lines due to surface melting. We model viscoelastic tidal flexure in these regions to assess its contribution to lake drainage via hydrofracturing. Results show that tidal flexure and lake-water pressure jointly control drainage near unconfined grounding lines. Sensitivity analysis indicates the importance of the Maxwell time of ice in modulating the tidal response.

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