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1. Migration of the Shear Margins at Thwaites Glacier: Dependence on Basal Conditions and Testability Against Field Data

   https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JF006958  

   Summers, Paul T. ; Elsworth, Cooper W. ; Dow, Christine F. ; Suckale, Jenny ( March 2023 , Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface)

   Projections of global sea level depend sensitively on whether Thwaites Glacier, Antarctica, will continue to lose ice rapidly. Prior studies have focused primarily on understanding the evolution of ice velocity and whether the reverse‐sloping bed at Thwaites Glacier could drive irreversible retreat. However, the overall ice flux to the ocean and the possibility of irreversible retreat depend not only on the ice speed but also on the width of the main ice trunk. Here, we complement prior work by focusing specifically on understanding whether the lateral boundaries of the main ice trunk, termed shear margins, might migrate over time. We hypothesize that the shear margins at Thwaites Glacier will migrate on a decadal timescale in response to continued ice thinning and surface steepening. We test this hypothesis by developing a depth‐averaged, thermomechanical free‐boundary model that captures the complex topography underneath the glacier and solves for both the ice velocity and for the position of the shear margins. We find that both shear margins are prone to migration in response to ice thinning with basal strength and surface slope steepening determining their relative motion. We construct four end‐member cases of basal strength that represent different physical properties governing friction at the glacier bed and present two cases of ice thinning to contrast the effects of surface steepening and ice thinning. We test our model by hindcasting historic data and discuss how data from ongoing field campaigns could further be used to test our model.

    

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2. An efficient tree-topological local mesh refinement on Cartesian grids for multiple moving objects in incompressible flow

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcp.2023.111983  

   Zhang, W. ; Pan, Y. ; Wang, J. ; Di Santo, V. ; Lauder, G. ; Dong, H. ( April 2023 , Journal of Computational Physics)

   This paper develops a tree-topological local mesh refinement (TLMR) method on Cartesian grids for the simulation of bio-inspired flow with multiple moving objects. The TLMR nests refinement mesh blocks of structured grids to the target regions and arrange the blocks in a tree topology. The method solves the time-dependent incompressible flow using a fractional-step method and discretizes the Navier-Stokes equation using a finite-difference formulation with an immersed boundary method to resolve the complex boundaries. When iteratively solving the discretized equations across the coarse and fine TLMR blocks, for better accuracy and faster convergence, the momentum equation is solved on all blocks simultaneously, while the Poisson equation is solved recursively from the coarsest block to the finest ones. When the refined blocks of the same block are connected, the parallel Schwarz method is used to iteratively solve both the momentum and Poisson equations. Convergence studies show that the algorithm is second-order accurate in space for both velocity and pressure, and the developed mesh refinement technique is benchmarked and demonstrated by several canonical flow problems. The TLMR enables a fast solution to an incompressible flow problem with complex boundaries or multiple moving objects. Various bio-inspired flows of multiple moving objects show that the solver can save over 80% computational time, proportional to the grid reduction when refinement is applied. 

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3. Turbulence Model Assessment in Compressible Flows around Complex Geometries with Unstructured Grids

   https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids4020081  

   Araya, Guillermo ( June 2019 , Fluids)

   One of the key factors in simulating realistic wall-bounded flows at high Reynolds numbers is the selection of an appropriate turbulence model for the steady Reynolds Averaged Navier–Stokes equations (RANS) equations. In this investigation, the performance of several turbulence models was explored for the simulation of steady, compressible, turbulent flow on complex geometries (concave and convex surface curvatures) and unstructured grids. The turbulence models considered were the Spalart–Allmaras model, the Wilcox k- ω model and the Menter shear stress transport (SST) model. The FLITE3D flow solver was employed, which utilizes a stabilized finite volume method with discontinuity capturing. A numerical benchmarking of the different models was performed for classical Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) cases, such as supersonic flow over an isothermal flat plate, transonic flow over the RAE2822 airfoil, the ONERA M6 wing and a generic F15 aircraft configuration. Validation was performed by means of available experimental data from the literature as well as high spatial/temporal resolution Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS). For attached or mildly separated flows, the performance of all turbulence models was consistent. However, the contrary was observed in separated flows with recirculation zones. Particularly, the Menter SST model showed the best compromise between accurately describing the physics of the flow and numerical stability. 

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4. Crustal and Upper Mantle Structure beneath the Wilkes and Aurora Subglacial Basins, East Antarctica from Full-Waveform Ambient Noise Tomography

   Kumar, A. ; Emry, E. ; Hansen, S. ( December 2019 , American Geophysical Union)

   East Antarctica is covered by thick sheets of ice and is underlain by stable cratonic lithosphere, extensive mountain ranges, and subglacial basins. The sparse seismic coverage in this region makes it difficult to assess the crustal and mantle structure, which are important to understanding the tectonic evolution of the continent as well as the behavior of the overlying ice sheets. Present tomographic models lack resolution and are often inconsistent with one another; therefore, delineating sub-surface characteristics associated with old rift systems or structures that would allow us to assess the origins of the Wilkes and Aurora subglacial basins, for instance, becomes challenging. To overcome these limitations, we are using a full-waveform tomography method to model the crustal and upper mantle structure in East Antarctica. We have used a frequency-time normalization approach to extract empirical Green’s functions (EGFs) from ambient seismic noise, between periods of 15-340 seconds. The ray path coverage of the EGFs is dense throughout East Antarctica, indicating that our study will provide new, high resolution imaging of this area. Synthetic waveforms are simulated through a three-dimensional heterogeneous Earth model using a finite-difference wave propagation method with a grid spacing of 0.025º (~ 2.25 km), which accurately reproduce Rayleigh waves at 15+ seconds. Following this, phase delays are measured between the synthetics and the data, sensitivity kernels are constructed using a scattering integral approach, and we invert using a sparse, least-squares method. The resulting shear-wave velocity model will be used to assess crustal and upper mantle features, ultimately aimed at resolving whether old rift systems exist within East Antarctica in relation to prominent subglacial basins. Preliminary results will be shared. 

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5. A Geodynamic Investigation of Plume‐Lithosphere Interactions Beneath the East African Rift

   https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JB025800  

   Rajaonarison, Tahiry A. ; Stamps, D. Sarah ; Naliboff, John ; Nyblade, Andrew ; Njinju, Emmanuel A. ( April 2023 , Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth)

   The force balance that drives and maintains continental rifting to breakup is poorly understood. The East African Rift (EAR) provides an ideal natural laboratory to elucidate the relative role of plate driving forces as only lithospheric buoyancy forces and horizontal mantle tractions act on the system. Here, we employ high‐resolution 3D thermomechanical models to test whether: (a) the anomalous, rift‐parallel surface deformation observed by Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data in the EAR are driven by viscous coupling to northward mantle flow associated with the African Superplume, and (b) the African Superplume is the dominant source mechanism of anomalous rift‐parallel seismic anisotropy beneath the EAR. We calculate Lattice Preferred Orientations (LPO) and surface deformation from two types of mantle flow: (a) a scenario with multiple plumes constrained by shear wave tomography and (b) a single superplume model with northward boundary condition to simulate large‐scale flow. Comparison of calculated LPO with observed seismic anisotropy, and surface velocities with GNSS and plate kinematics reveal that there is a better fit with the superplume mantle flow model, rather than the tomography‐based (multiple plumes) model. We also find a relatively better fit spatially between observed seismic anisotropy and calculated LPO with the superplume model beneath northern and central EAR, where the superplume is proposed to be shallowest. Our results suggest that the viscous coupling of the lithosphere to northward mantle flow associated with the African Superplume drives most of the rift‐parallel deformation and is the dominant source of the first‐order pattern of the observed seismic anisotropy in the EAR.

    

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