The role of sediment transport in the mechanics of jökulhlaups

A. C. Fowler, F. S. L. Ng
1996 Annals of Glaciology  
The classical theory of jökulhlaups used Röthlisberger's earlier theory of ice-channel drainage to describe the development of the flood hydrograph. This theory has some drawbacks: the mechanism of initiation (breaking the seal) is opaque, the Manning roughness coefficient is too large and the hydrographs can reveal a sudden switching from channel opening to channel closure which is not simulated by the model. In this paper, we examine these features by exploring a more detailed model, which
more » ... es into account the physics of sediment erosion and its effect on channel morphology. We propose a theory in which channels need not be semicircular, but have shapes determined by a local balance between closure and melting, and in which erosion of the tunnel margins is taken into account; in particular, we derive theoretical predictions for sediment discharge, and we also propose a mechanism whereby the pressure seal over the caldera rim at Grímsvötn in Vatnajökull, Iceland, can be broken when the lake-level water pressure is still some 6 bar below the maximum overburden ice pressure.
doi:10.3189/1996aog22-1-255-259 fatcat:pbyxg3i5qzhpzacrvkbnqtygum