What question did this study set out to answer?

Examine the physical mechanisms governing water flow within and beneath glaciers, focusing on the conditions that initiate and terminate catastrophic subglacial outburst floods.

January 1, 1976Journal of Glaciology

Water Flow in Glaciers: Jökulhlaups, Tunnels and Veins

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Authors

JNJ. F. NyeCalifornia Institute of Technology

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Implication

Hydrodynamic analysis demonstrates non-steady water flow dynamics in subglacial conduits, indicating how hydrostatic lifting and frictional melting trigger catastrophic outburst floods.

Key Points

Examine the physical mechanisms governing water flow within and beneath glaciers, focusing on the conditions that initiate and terminate catastrophic subglacial outburst floods.
Derived differential equations governing non-steady water flow through subglacial tunnels.
Applied hydrodynamic equations to empirical discharge and temporal data from the 1972 Grímsvötn outburst flood in Iceland.
Modeled the equilibrium between frictional heating, ice melting, and plastic closure in subglacial tunnels and intergranular vein networks.
Showed that outburst floods initiate when subglacial lakes reach a critical threshold capable of lifting overlying ice through a hydrostatic cantilever effect.
Captured the observed discharge-time growth curve and abrupt flood termination using non-steady tunnel flow equations that operate independently of specific conduit geometry.
Demonstrated that ice-dammed lakes do not drain through intergranular veins because the net hydraulic driving force points toward the lake rather than away from it.

Cite This Study

J. F. Nye (1976) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a7106fce5469ee92be1aa38 https://doi.org/10.1017/s002214300001354x

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Implication

Hydrodynamic analysis demonstrates non-steady water flow dynamics in subglacial conduits, indicating how hydrostatic lifting and frictional melting trigger catastrophic outburst floods.

Water Flow in Glaciers: Jökulhlaups, Tunnels and Veins

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Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

Water Flow in Glaciers: Jökulhlaups, Tunnels and Veins

Discussion

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Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

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