Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T13:32:31.392Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

6 - Temperature distribution in polar ice sheets

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 December 2019

Roger LeB. Hooke
Affiliation:
University of Maine, Orono
Get access

Summary

In this chapter the energy balance equation is derived and temperature-depth profiles are calculated at an ice divide and some distance from the divide. The mean annual temperature at the surface and either the temperature gradient or the pressure melting point at the bed, as appropriate, are used as boundary conditions. In both solutions the vertical velocity is assumed to decrease linearly with depth, and longitudinal advection is approximated by assuming a warming rate at depth equal to that at the surface. Both lead to basal temperatures that are too cold, but with suitable caution the models are useful for illustrating how various physical processes that affect the temperature distribution are reflected in calculated temperatures along a flowline. Numerical models incorporating more variables can be used to extract estimates of temporal changes in surface temperature and ice sheet thickness from measured temperature profiles. Finally, we discussed some geomorphic features formed at boundaries between zones of thawed and frozen bed, like hill-hole pairs and some types of ribbed moraine, and noted that they can be used to constrain numerical models of ice sheets.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×