Tidal Flexure of Jakobshavns Glacier, West Greenland

Jakobshavns Glacier, a floating outlet glacier on the West Greenland coast, was surveyed during July 1976. The vertical displacements of targets along two profiles perpendicular to the fjord wall bounding the north margin of the glacier were analyzed to determine the effect of flexure caused by tidal oscillations within the fjord. An analysis based on the assumption that vertical displacements of the glacier reflected pure elastic bending yielded the conclusion that the effective thickness of the ice (i.e., the thickness which remained unaffected by surface and basal cracking and which behaved as a continuum) was ∼160 m 2.6 km upglacier from the calving front and ∼110 m 0.6 km from the calving front. An analysis based on the more realistic assumption that observed bending reflected elastic and viscoplastic deformation yielded the conclusion that the average effective thickness of the ice was 316 ± 74 m (∼40% of the estimated 800-m total thickness) 2.6 km from the calving front and 160 ± 48 m (∼21% of the estimated 750-m total) 0.6 km from the calving front. A constitutive relationship appropriate for hard glide during flexure was used.