Stress state and mechanics of glacier shelvescollapse

The stress state of ice shelves using numerical modeling is studied. An ice shelf is modeled by an elastic plate floating on water and attached to the ice cover at a grounding point. An analytical solution for the elastic bending of the plate is obtained and it is shown that the maximum tensile stresses on the lower surface of the glacier near the grounding point can reach values of 5×107 Pa, significantly exceeding the limiting strength values of the glacier. The fragmentation of a glacier that occurs when a glacier moves under conditions of constrained compression has been studied. It is shown that deformations of the ice plate are accompanied by the formation of zones of localization of inelastic deformations (ice ridges). A comparison was made of the calculated relief of the plate surface after localization of deformations with the pattern of hummocking of the Larsen Glacier, visible on satellite images.