Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Propagation Of Long Fractures In The Ronne Ice Shelf Investigated Using A Numerical Model Of Fracture Propagation, Christina L. Hulbe, Christine Marie Ledoux, Kenneth M. Cruikshank

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Long rifts near the front of the Ronne Ice Shelf, Antarctica, are observed to begin as fractures along the lateral boundaries of outlet streams feeding the shelf. These flaws eventually become the planes along which tabular icebergs calve. The fractures propagate laterally as they advect through the shelf, with orientations that can be explained by the glaciological stress field. Fracture length remains constrained over much of the advective path, and locations of crack tip arrest are observed to coincide with structural boundaries, such as suture zones between ice from adjacent outlet glaciers. Geomechanical principles and numerical models demonstrate that in …