Fannon_2017_Numerical.pdf (8.11 MB)
Numerical simulations of drumlin formations
journal contribution
posted on 2022-12-12, 12:41 authored by James S. Fannon, Andrew FowlerAndrew Fowler, Iain R. MoylesWe summarize the present form of the instability theory for drumlin formation, which describes the coupled subglacial flow of ice, water and sediment. This model has evolved over the last 20 years, and is now at the point where it can predict instabilities corresponding to ribbed moraine, drumlins and mega-scale glacial lineations, but efforts to provide numerical solutions of the model have been limited. The present summary adds some slight nuances to previously published versions of the theory, notably concerning the constitutive description of the subglacial water film and its flow. A new numerical method is devised to solve the model, and we show that it can be solved for realistic values of most of the parameters, with the exception of that corresponding to the water film thickness. We show that evolved bedforms can be three-dimensional and of the correct sizes, and we explore to some extent the variation of the solutions with the model’s parameters.
History
Publication
Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences;473Publisher
The Royal Society PublishingNote
peer-reviewedOther Funding information
SFILanguage
EnglishAlso affiliated with
- MACSI - Mathematics Application Consortium for Science & Industry
Department or School
- Mathematics & Statistics