isenko_mavlyudov_2002.html
Bulletin of Glaciological Research 19 (2002) 93-99
©Japanese Society of Snow and Ice
On the intensity of ice melting in supraglacial and englacial channels
Evgeny
ISENKO1,2 and Bulat
MAVLYUDOV2
1Institute
of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 060-0035
Japan
2Institute of Geography of Russian Academy of
Sciences, Moscow, Russia
Abstract
The growth of a glacial channel that is filled with water both completely and partially is considered. The intensity of deepening of channels partially filled with water and the expansion of the completely filled channels are calculated by similar formulas. The influence of channel meandering and their cross-section nonroundness are also taken into account. The results of calculations turned out to be in agreement with known field data. Because we do not consider cold glaciers and plastic deformation of ice, this work can be thought as an estimation of the maximum values of channel growth rates. Taking into account only the potential energy of water, we obtained rather tolerable results. Therefore, this simple approach can be considered as a rude estimation of ice melting rate on the channel walls. In addition, a simplified model of a glacial ice-dammed lake was proposed. According to this model, most of the lake water usually drains through the dam during only several days, when the outburst occurs.
