Computational Math Seminar: Hari Rajaram
Overview of Ice Sheet and Glacier Flow and Modeling
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Date and time:Ìý
Tuesday, January 18, 2011 - 3:45pm
Abstract:Ìý
In this talk, I will present the basic equations for ice sheet and glacier modeling. Typically, the three equations are (i) mass balance for an incompressible material, (ii) momentum equations assuming no accelerations, which together with the nonlinear viscosity/rheology of ice present the most challenging of the computational sub-problems, and (iii) energy balance equations which are used to determine temperature that controls the ice viscosity. For large glaciers and ice sheets, these equations need to be solved in 3D on relatively large grids. Additional difficulties arise in dealing with phase-change interfaces and the need to track the interface between ice at the pressure melting point, called "temperate ice", and "cold ice" that is below the melting point. I will also present some results on a newly proposed mechanism for rapid warming of ice sheets in the ablation zone (where water can penetrate the ice surface), which we have termed as "cryo-hydrologic warming".