2021/03/17 by Marceau Hénot, H\'enot, Marceau, Nicolas Plihon +1
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Mathematics · Medicine · Physics and Astronomy · #Atmospheric sciences #Block (permutation group theory) #Climate change and permafrost #Convection #Cryospheric studies and observations #Dimensionless quantity #Geology #Geology and Paleoclimatology Research #Geometry #Geomorphology #Glacier #Heat flux #Heat transfer #Mathematics #Mechanics #Meteorology #Physics #Table (database) #Thermal #Thermal conduction #Thermodynamics #Winter Sports Injuries and Performance #physics.flu-dyn #physics.geo-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.127.108501
published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 127, 108501 (2021) · 8 pages, 8 figures; final version, title corrected
openalex publication_date 2021/09/03 · arxiv created 2021/09/09 · arxiv updated 2021/09/10 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
A glacier table consists of a rock supported by a slender column of ice and form naturally on glaciers. We investigate the onset of their formation at a smaller scale in a controlled environment. Depending on the size and thermal conductivity of a cap, it can either form of a table standing on an ice foot, or sink into the ice block. A one-dimension conduction model shows that the differential ice melting is controlled by a competition between two effects: a geometrical amplification, and a heat flux reduction due to the higher temperature of the cap as compared to the ice. Our model captures the transition between the two regimes and identifies a dimensionless number which controls the onset of glacier tables formation.