APPLICATIONOFTHEGRAVITYFLOWTHEORYTOTHE.PDFVIP

Journal of Glaciology, Vcl. 27, N c . 95, 1981 APPLI CATION OF THE GRAVITY FLOW THEORY TO THE PERCOLATION OF MELT WATER THROUGH FIRN By W. AMBA c H , M . BLU MT HALER, and P. KIRCHLECHN ER (Institut fur Medizinisch e Physik, Universi Uit Innsbru ck, Muller strasse 44, A-602o Innsbruck, Austri a) ABSTRACT. Appli cati on of the gravity fl ow theor y to the per cola ti on of m elt water through the firn in the a ccumulation ar ea of a t emp erate glacier expl a ins the occurr en ce of sh ock fro nt s in th e melt-water flux. The time of p rop agation of a sh ock front mov in g from th e surfa ce through th e entir e firn was calcula t ed und er variou s assumpti on s. Vari ous tim e input fun cti ons of m elt-wa t er flux at the surface with constant tot a l input v olumes yield only slight differ en ces in th e ti me of propaga ti on of th e shock front at great er d epths . The d ep end en ce of the tim e of prop agati on of a sh ock front on the input volume, on sn ow p a r amet ers, and on the total thi ckn ess of th e firn was calcula t ed. An a pproximately linear r elati on was found to exist between the time of prop agati on of a sh ock fron t m oving thr ough th e firn a n d th e total thi ckn ess of th e fi rn . The dra inag e of m elt wat er from th e firn a ft er th e su mmer ablati on period is a lso qu antit a ti vel y expl ained by th e grav ity fl ow th eory. All r esult s ar e in good agreem ent with exp erim ent al d ata. REsuME . Appl i