Analysis of ice-flow instabilities identified in the EISMINT intercomparison exercise

A series of ice-sheet-model intercomparison exercises have been organized as part of EISMINT. One such set of experiments investigated the implications of thermomechanical coupling on the flow of ice sheets with idealized geometry The results of these experiments are discussed by Payne and others (in press). They indicate that local concentrations of ice flow may develop as a consequence of interactions between ice flow, temperature and viscosity The nature of the intercomparison exercise meant that only a limited number of experiments could be performed by the ten contributing groups. Many of the implications arising from the results could not therefore be investigated. This paper focuses on four. They are the initiation of the patterning, its reversibility the influence of the relationship between ice temperature and viscosity and dependence on numerical time-step and horizontal grid size.