Home▸Nature & Climate▸2D Glacial Calving: Crevasse-Depth Fracture Model

2D Glacial Calving: Crevasse-Depth Fracture Model

A 2D side-view companion to the 3D glacier calving scene: real ice density, seawater flotation draft and Nye's crevasse-depth formula drive an actual fracture-growth model, so the ice front calves when the physics says it should, not on a fixed timer — adjust cliff height, ice temperature, flow velocity and water depth and watch the fracture line respond.

Nature & Climate2DModerate60 FPS📱 Mobile-adapted💧 Water ❄️ Ice ⇄ 3D version

This is the 2D companion to the 3D glacial calving scene. Instead of calving on a fixed timer, this side-view model computes a real fracture-growth state: ice density and seawater density set the flotation draft and freeboard of the cliff, ice temperature sets a tensile strength that plugs into Nye's classic crevasse-depth formula, and flow velocity feeds a crack that extends over time until it penetrates the full cliff thickness — at which point the ice actually calves, splashes and the fracture resets.

⚙ Under the hood

A 2D side-view glacial calving lab built on real ice/seawater density, flotation draft and Nye's crevasse-depth formula (d = 2σ_t/ρg); flow velocity drives crack growth until the fracture reaches the full cliff height and the ice calves.

glacier calvingice fracturecrevasse depthbuoyancyflotationglaciology2D simulation

2D · HTML5 Canvas 2D · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install