Surface wave generation due to glacier calving

Abstract

Coastal glaciers reach the ocean in a spectacular process called "calving". Immediately after calving, the impulsive surface waves are generated, sometimes of large height. These waves are particularly dangerous for vessels sailing close to the glacier fronts. The paper presents a theoretical model of surface wave generation due to glacier calving. To explain the wave generation process, four case studies of ice blocks falling into water are discussed: a cylindrical ice block of small thickness impacting on water, an ice column sliding into water without impact, a large ice block falling on to water with a pressure impulse, and an ice column becoming detached from the glacier wall and falling on to the sea surface. These case studies encompass simplified, selected modes of the glacier calving, which can be treated in a theoretical way. Example calculations illustrate the predicted time series of surface elevations for each mode of glacier calving.

Keywords

• Glacier calving
• Surface waves
• Pressure impulse
• Integral transforms