Book contents
- Principles of Glacier Mechanics
- Reviews
- Principles of Glacier Mechanics
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface to the third edition
- Preface to the second edition
- Preface to the first edition
- Physical constants relevant to ice
- Derived SI units and conversion factors
- 1 Why study glaciers?
- 2 Some basic concepts
- 3 Mass balance
- 4 Flow and fracture of a crystalline material
- 5 The velocity field in a glacier
- 6 Temperature distribution in polar ice sheets
- 7 The coupling between a glacier and its bed
- 8 Water flow in and under glaciers: Geomorphic implications
- 9 Stress and deformation
- 10 Stress and velocity distribution in an idealized glacier
- 11 Numerical modeling
- 12 Applications of stress and deformation principles to classical problems
- 13 Ice streams and ice shelves
- 14 Finite strain and the origin of foliation
- 15 Response of glaciers to climate change
- 16 Ice core studies
- Problems
- References
- Index
2 - Some basic concepts
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 December 2019
- Principles of Glacier Mechanics
- Reviews
- Principles of Glacier Mechanics
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface to the third edition
- Preface to the second edition
- Preface to the first edition
- Physical constants relevant to ice
- Derived SI units and conversion factors
- 1 Why study glaciers?
- 2 Some basic concepts
- 3 Mass balance
- 4 Flow and fracture of a crystalline material
- 5 The velocity field in a glacier
- 6 Temperature distribution in polar ice sheets
- 7 The coupling between a glacier and its bed
- 8 Water flow in and under glaciers: Geomorphic implications
- 9 Stress and deformation
- 10 Stress and velocity distribution in an idealized glacier
- 11 Numerical modeling
- 12 Applications of stress and deformation principles to classical problems
- 13 Ice streams and ice shelves
- 14 Finite strain and the origin of foliation
- 15 Response of glaciers to climate change
- 16 Ice core studies
- Problems
- References
- Index
Summary
Glaciers are classified according to size, shape, and temperature. Temperate glaciers are at the pressure melting point throughout, whereas polar glaciers are below the pressure melting point except, in some places, at the bed. Ice is basically incompressible, which simplifies many analyses. Stresses, strains, and strain rates are second rank tensor quantities, so nine quantities are needed to describe them. Ice flows in response to stresses in excess of hydrostatic, or deviatoric stresses. To a good approximation, the strain rate, “ε”̇, can be described by “ε” ̇= A“σ” ^n in which A is a temperature-dependent rate factor, “σ”isthe stress, and n is a constant, usually taken to be 3.
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- Principles of Glacier Mechanics , pp. 5 - 16Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019