Coupling between the ocean and an ice shelf

Abstract

The possibility of long-period ocean waves coupling to an ice shelf is investigated. A thick elastic plate model is used for the ice shelf with comparisons made to the simpler thin-plate model. The strain set up on the ice shelf by a normally incident single frequency ocean wave is calculated by completely solving the equations governing the velocity potential for such a system. In the absence of measurements on an ice shelf, existing measurements of long-period strain on an ice tongue are used to estimate the required incident amplitude in the open water to induce the observed oscillations. It is found that the height of seas required indicates that ocean wave driving is a plausible forcing mechanism for observed oscillations.