Open AccessMeltwater production due to strain heating in Storglaciären, Sweden
Author(s) -
Aschwanden Andy,
Blatter Heinz
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: earth surface
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2005jf000328
Subject(s) - meltwater , temperate climate , ablation zone , snow , water content , moisture , glacier , geology , atmospheric sciences , materials science , geomorphology , composite material , geotechnical engineering , botany , biology
Storglaciären, northern Sweden, is temperate in most parts except for a cold surface layer in the ablation zone. One of four possible sources for liquid water in temperate ice is melting due to strain heating. Velocity fields are calculated with an ice flow model, so that calculated and observed surface velocities agree. Meltwater accumulation is computed by integrating strain heating along trajectories starting at the surface in the accumulation area and ending at the cold‐temperate transition surface in the ablation zone. The distribution of moisture content due to strain heating alone is mapped in a longitudinal section of Storglaciären. Values reach more than 10 g of water per kilogram ice‐water mixture in the lowest parts of the temperate domain. For this moisture content the rate factor is more than 3 times higher than for water‐free ice, and therefore water production by strain heating is important for the modeling of temperate and polythermal glaciers.