New computational models of coupled subglacial processes

. 

    The dynamics of subglacial processes are to some degree manifested in the landforms and landscapes that glaciers and ice-sheets generate. By simulating subglacial erosion and sediment transport it is our objective to test, quantitatively, the potential of established long-term subglacial relations for explaining characteristic large scale glacial landforms.
Here we present our computational strategy and discuss its applicability. The models are based on the finite volume method and simulate ice flow on a three dimensional topographic surface using a second-order shallow-ice approximation (SOSIA), including contributions from longitudinal stress gradients and finite bed slopes. Sediment advection is modelled partly as entrained material and partly as a deformable subglacial layer. Meltwater transport occurs in channels at the ice surface and at the ice-bed interface, where the effective water pressure is controlled self-consistently by the balance between melting and transport rates.
We present model examples with special emphasis on large scale erosion patterns, and we compare our model predictions to general observations from digital elevation models (DEM’s).