Subtemperate regelation exhibits power-law premelting

This is a Preprint and has not been peer reviewed. The published version of this Preprint is available: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2024.0032. This is version 2 of this Preprint.

Add a Comment

You must log in to post a comment.


Comments

There are no comments or no comments have been made public for this article.

Downloads

Download Preprint

Authors

Colin R. Meyer, Julia Bellamy, Alan Rempel 

Abstract

Wire regelation is a common tabletop demonstration of the pressure-dependence of the ice melting temperature where loaded wires move from top to bottom through a block of ice, yet leaves the block intact. With the background temperature fixed at the bulk melting point $\sim0\,^{\circ}$C, the elevated ice and liquid pressures beneath the wire cause melting because of the negative Clapeyron slope, while refreezing takes place above the wire where the pressures are reduced. Regelation is the fundamental model for temperate glacier ice moving through small bedrock obstacles. Laboratory experiments demonstrate that regelation continues to occur, albeit at  much slower velocities, when the fixed background ice temperature is cold enough that the wire load is insufficient to produce bulk melting, suggesting that premelting plays a central role. Here we compile available data for wire regelation at all temperatures. We then develop a model for the subtemperate data points, where the film thickness depends on the temperature below the melting point. We find agreement between the power-law model and the laboratory data for slow regelation velocities, allowing us to characterize the dominant premelting mechanisms for different wire compositions. These results advance our understanding of the role of premelting in subtemperate glacier sliding.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.31223/X54Q2N

Subjects

Fluid Dynamics, Glaciology, Other Physics

Keywords

Regelation, Premelting, Solidification

Dates

Published: 2024-01-13 17:22

Last Updated: 2024-07-06 19:13

Older Versions
License

CC BY Attribution 4.0 International

Additional Metadata

Data Availability (Reason not available):
We do not present any new data