The simulation demonstrates how viscous creep velocity through a rock glacier's ice-cemented core depends on ice content, ice temperature, and the thickness of the insulating surface debris layer.
Use the sliders to vary ice content, core temperature, and debris thickness, then observe how the internal velocity profile and overall downslope creep rate change.
Sliders for ice content, core temperature, and debris layer thickness
Because thick rock debris insulates buried ice from summer warmth, some rock glaciers preserve ice at elevations far below where an exposed, debris-free glacier could ever survive.
The simulation demonstrates how viscous creep velocity through a rock glacier's ice-cemented core depends on ice content, ice temperature, and the thickness of the insulating surface debris layer.
The simulation demonstrates how viscous creep velocity through a rock glacier's ice-cemented core depends on ice content, ice temperature, and the thickness of the insulating surface debris layer.
Use the sliders to vary ice content, core temperature, and debris thickness, then observe how the internal velocity profile and overall downslope creep rate change.
Because thick rock debris insulates buried ice from summer warmth, some rock glaciers preserve ice at elevations far below where an exposed, debris-free glacier could ever survive.