A ring shear device to simulate cryosphere processes

Abstract

We have developed a new cryogenic ring shear device at the University of Wisconsin–Madison to simulate cryosphere processes, with an emphasis on the physics of glacier slip. The device spins a ring of ice (inner diameter of 20 cm, outer diameter of 60 cm, height of ∼20–30 cm) at the pressure melting point over a rotationally fixed bed. The ice ring is spun at a prescribed velocity (range of ∼0.01–1000 m a−1) while the resistance to slip is measured. A ram at the base of the device applies a vertical load to the sample chamber to simulate the overburden pressure (range ∼5–915 kPa) felt at a glacier’s base. The sample chamber is constructed with transparent acrylic walls, allowing subglacial processes to be observed directly by a series of cameras. The entire device is housed in a large walk-in freezer. In the freezer, the sample chamber is submerged in a tub of temperature-controlled fluid that precisely regulates heat flux into the sample chamber, replicating in situ conditions and allowing for prolonged experiments that last weeks to months. This device can be used to study several of the most unconstrained physical processes that regulate glacier movement and, in doing so, greatly improve predictions of glacier contributions to sea-level rise.