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Updated: Jan 7, 2026

Visually Based Characterization of the Incipient Particle Motion in Regular Substrates: From Laminar to Turbulent Conditions
Published on: February 22, 2018
Flow mechanism of glaciers on soft beds
Abstract:
Subhourly measurements of bed deformation, bed shear strength, subglacial water pressure, and surface speed at Storglaciären, a glacier in northern Sweden, showed that the shear-strain rates of the bed decrease during periods of high water pressure and surface speed. High water pressures appear to be accompanied by a reduction in the coupling of ice with the bed that is sufficient to reduce or eliminate shearing. The instability of large ice masses may result from similar decoupling rather than from pervasive bed deformation, as has been commonly thought.
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