The Cryosphere
The Cryosphere
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Articles | Volume 19, issue 12
Articles | Volume 19, issue 12
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-6865-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-6865-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 19, issue 12
Research article
 | 
18 Dec 2025
Research article |  | 18 Dec 2025

Modelling ocean melt of ice mélange at Greenland's marine-terminating glaciers

Lokesh Jain, Donald A. Slater, and Peter Nienow

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Cited articles

Amundson, J. M., Fahnestock, M., Truffer, M., Brown, J., Lüthi, M. P., and Motyka, R. J.: Ice mélange dynamics and implications for terminus stability, Jakobshavn Isbræ, Greenland, Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 115, https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JF001405, 2010. a, b
Amundson, J. M., Robel, A. A., Burton, J. C., and Nissanka, K.: A quasi-one-dimensional ice mélange flow model based on continuum descriptions of granular materials, The Cryosphere, 19, 19–35, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-19-2025, 2025. a, b, c
Åström, J., Cook, S., Enderlin, E. M., Sutherland, D. A., Mazur, A., and Glasser, N.: Fragmentation theory reveals processes controlling iceberg size distributions, Journal of Glaciology, 67, 603–612, https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2021.14, 2021. a
Bevan, S. L., Luckman, A. J., Benn, D. I., Cowton, T., and Todd, J.: Impact of warming shelf waters on ice mélange and terminus retreat at a large SE Greenland glacier, The Cryosphere, 13, 2303–2315, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2303-2019, 2019. a
Burton, J. C., Amundson, J. M., Cassotto, R., Kuo, C.-C., and Dennin, M.: Quantifying flow and stress in ice mélange, the world's largest granular material, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115, 5105–5110, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1715136115, 2018. a, b, c, d
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Ice mélange is a mixture of icebergs and sea ice which floats in front of Greenland’s largest glaciers. The presence of ice mélange can have a significant impact on a glacier and its fjord, but the melting of an ice mélange by the ocean is currently poorly understood. Here, we use computer simulations to develop an equation which describes how ice mélange melts under different environmental conditions. This work improves our understanding of the effect of ice mélange on glaciers and the ocean.
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