Water Flow through Veins in Ice,
Abstract
Water flow through the vein structure of temperature ice is described as Darcian flow in which the pressure gradient is determined from vein size and overburden pressure. A solution method for the resulting equation is given and two special cases are considered. For steady flow the equilibrium vein size is a function of depth and, by neglecting the effects of diffusion, it is shown that flow perturbations introduced at the surface propagate downward at a constant speed. These perturbations propagate so slowly that even annual surface fluctuations of flow may be eliminated by diffusion before reaching the bottom of the glacier.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 1976
- Accession Number
- ADA026631
Entities
People
- Samuel C. Colbeck
Organizations
- Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory