| Title: |
Buckling of a floating fluid layer |
| Authors: |
Herbermann, Zofia; Balmforth, Neil J.; Schoof, Christian |
| Source: |
Journal of Fluid Mechanics ; volume 1026 ; ISSN 0022-1120 1469-7645 |
| Publisher Information: |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
| Publication Year: |
2026 |
| Description: |
Roll patterns on floating ice shelves have been suggested to arise from viscous buckling under compressive stresses. A model of this process is explored, allowing for a power-law fluid rheology for ice. Linear stability theory of uniformly compressing base flows confirms that buckling modes can be unstable over a range of intermediate wavelengths when gravity does not play a dominant role. The rate of compression of the base flow, however, ensures that linear perturbations have wavelengths that continually shorten with time. As a consequence, linear instability only ever arises over a certain window of time $t$ , and its strength can be characterised by finding the net amplification factor a buckling mode acquires for $t\to \infty$ , beginning from a given initial wavenumber. Bi-axial compression, in which sideways straining flow is introduced to prevent the thickening of the base flow, is found to be more unstable than purely two-dimensional (or uni-axial) compression. Shear-thinning enhances the degree of instability in both uni-axial and bi-axial flow. The implications of the theoretical results for the glaciological problem are discussed. |
| Document Type: |
article in journal/newspaper |
| Language: |
English |
| DOI: |
10.1017/jfm.2025.11034 |
| Availability: |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2025.11034; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022112025110343 |
| Rights: |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.2661F8BD |
| Database: |
BASE |