Memorias de investigación
Communications at congresses:
Svalbard 2D-modelling of the variations of the calving front position of Hansbreen, Svalbard
Year:2012

Research Areas
  • Geophysics

Information
Abstract
Hansbreen is a tidewater glacier in Svalbard, about 16 km in length and 2.5 km in width at its tongue. The calving front position shows, over the recent decades, a general retreating trend, often rather smooth but with some occasional abrupt changes. We apply a full-Stokes model of glacier dynamics, using Elmer code and incorporating a crevasse-depth-based calving model, with the aims of: 1) reproducing the glacier front position changes observed since 1936, and 2) analyzing the sensitivity of the model to environmental parameters. The model is able to reproduce quite closely the observed front position changes, though not all of the abrupt changes are captured by the model. The amount of water filling the crevasses and the bed geometry act jointly in controlling the front position changes. The front position gently evolves when the front is located in nearly-flat bed areas, while abrupt front position changes occur where the bed shows a sharp change in slope, with different amounts of water implying different timing for the abrupt changes in front position.
International
Si
Congress
7ª Asamblea Hispano Portuguesa de Geodesia y Geofisica
960
Place
San Sebastian
Reviewers
Si
ISBN/ISSN
Start Date
25/06/2012
End Date
28/06/2012
From page
298
To page
298
7ª Asamblea Hispano Portuguesa de Geodesia y Geofisica
Participants

Research Group, Departaments and Institutes related
  • Creador: Grupo de Investigación: Grupo de Simulación Numérica en Ciencias e Ingeniería
  • Departamento: Matemática Aplicada a las Tecnologías de la Información