文章基本信息

标题：A simple model for the influence of push-morainal banks on the calving and stability of glacial tidewater termini
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作者：Fischer Mark P. ; Powell Ross D.
期刊名称：Journal of Glaciology
印刷版ISSN：0022-1430
电子版ISSN：1727-5652
出版年度：1998
卷号：44
期号：146
页码：31-41
DOI：10.1017/S002214300000232X
出版社：Cambridge University Press
摘要：Push-morainal banks at the grounding lines of tidewater termini of temperate glaciers are the source of two types of restraining forces operating at the glacier terminus. Horizontal normal forces derive from the lateral support and transport of the bank of sediment at the terminus, whereas a horizontal shear force operates along the base of a bank pushed in front of an advancing glacier. The simple model we present suggests that bank-related restraining forces are significantly larger than the restraining force derived from the hydrostatic pressure of water adjacent to the submerged terminus of a glacier. During glacier advance, restraining forces continually increase, resulting in decreasing flow rates, glacier thickening and the eventual cessation of advance. During retreat, restraining forces continually decrease, resulting in increasing flow rates, glacier thinning and the potential for unstable, rapid, sustained retreat. The normal, seasonal, oscillatory advance retreat cycle of a glacier is moderated by restraining forces associated with push moraines. Unstable retreat is likely initiated when bank-related restraining forces fall below some threshold value during the seasonal retreat cycle. Calving is not a primary cause of glacier retreat, but is more likely a short-term response to increased flow rates. Increased flow rates result in glacier thinning and an approach toward buoyancy, both of which fluctuate seasonally in accordance with bank-related restraining forces.