Ice-shelf forced vibrations modelled with a full 3-D elastic model

Abstract. Ice-shelf forced vibrations modelling was performed using a full 3-D finite-difference elastic model, which takes into account sub-ice seawater flow. The sub-ice seawater flow was described by the wave equation, so the ice-shelf flexures result from the hydrostatic pressure perturbations in sub-ice seawater layer. The numerical experiments were performed for idealized ice-shelf geometry, which was considered in the numerical experiments in Holdsworth and Glynn (1978). The ice-plate vibrations were modelled for harmonic ingoing pressure perturbations and for a wide spectrum of the ocean swell periodicities, ranging from infragravity wave periods down to periods of a few seconds (0.004–0.2 Hz). The spectrums for the vibration amplitudes were obtained in this range and are published in this manuscript. The spectrums contain distinct resonant peaks, which corroborate the ability of resonant-like motion in suitable conditions of the forcing. The impact of local irregularities in the ice-shelf geometry to the amplitude spectrums was investigated for idealized sinusoidal perturbations of the ice surface and the sea bottom. The results of the numerical experiments presented in this manuscript, are approximately in agreement with the results obtained by the thin-plate model in the research carried out by Holdsworth and Glynn (1978). In addition, the full model allows to observe 3-D effects, for instance, vertical distribution of the stress components in the plate. In particular, the model reveals the increasing in shear stress, which is neglected in the thin-plate approximation, from the terminus towards the grounding zone with the maximum at the grounding line in the case of considered high-frequency forcing. Thus, the high-frequency forcing can reinforce the tidal impact to the ice-shelf grounding zone additionally exciting the ice fracture there.