Numerical modelling of interaction between ice shelf calving and dynamics of Crane Glacier, a former tributary of the Larsen-B ice shelf, Antarctic Peninsula.

The retreat or removal of an ice shelf reduces its buttressing effect onto the upstream grounded tributary ice stream and thereby potentially leads to rapid inland thinning, acceleration and grounding line retreat. The process of calving, although essential in controlling the ice shelf dynamics, is poorly understood and its representation in existing numerical models is very crude. We include a recently developed physically based calving criteria into a numerical flowline model. This model is applied to Crane Glacier, a former tributary of the Larsen B ice shelf, Antarctic Peninsula. We investigate the interaction between the grounded tributary glacier and the retreat and disintegration of the Larsen-B ice shelf. We compare the model results to retreat positions, flow velocities and thinning rates from remote sensing. The freely moving grounding line included in our model further allows us to investigate the effect of ice-shelf change onto grounding line retreat (retreat-thinning feedback) and thereby assess the future stability of such ice-shelf bound tributaries.