Basal stress concentrations due to abrupt changes in boundary conditions: a cause for high till concentration at the bottom of a glacier

Auteurs :
HUTTER, K.
OLUNLOYO, V. O. S.

Description :
It is shown that for a Newtonian fluid and all investigated discontinuities of boundary data, square root singularities of the stresses will develop at the transition line. Asymptotic expressions for the basal stresses are derived. The explicit forms of these asymptotic expansions depend on the form of the spatial dependance of the sliding law and further more on the numerical values of the viscosity coefficient. It is, moreover argued that the stress concentrations are sufficiently pronounced to account for the removal of basal rock especially in regions of high cleavage concentrations, the details again depending upon the sliding coefficient.


Type de document :
Article de périodique

Source :
Annals of Glaciology Cambridge, 1982, vol. 2, p. 29-33, Références bibliographiques : 19 réf.

Date :
1982