TY  - JOUR
A1  - Prasicek, Günther
A1  - Herman, Frederic
A1  - Robl, Jörg
A1  - Braun, Jean
T1  - Glacial steady state topography controlled by the coupled influence of tectonics and climate
JF  - Journal of geophysical research : Earth surface
N2  - Glaciers and rivers are the main agents of mountain erosion. While in the fluvial realm empirical relationships and their mathematical description, such as the stream power law, improved the understanding of fundamental controls on landscape evolution, simple constraints on glacial topography and governing scaling relations are widely lacking. We present a steady state solution for longitudinal profiles along eroding glaciers in a coupled system that includes tectonics and climate. We combined the shallow ice approximation and a glacial erosion rule to calculate ice surface and bed topography from prescribed glacier mass balance gradient and rock uplift rate. Our approach is inspired by the classic application of the stream power law for describing a fluvial steady state but with the striking difference that, in the glacial realm, glacier mass balance is added as an altitude-dependent variable. From our analyses we find that ice surface slope and glacial relief scale with uplift rate with scaling exponents indicating that glacial relief is less sensitive to uplift rate than relief in most fluvial landscapes. Basic scaling relations controlled by either basal sliding or internal deformation follow a power law with the exponent depending on the exponents for the glacial erosion rule and Glen's flow law. In a mixed scenario of sliding and deformation, complicated scaling relations with variable exponents emerge. Furthermore, a cutoff in glacier mass balance or cold ice in high elevations can lead to substantially larger scaling exponents which may provide an explanation for high relief in high latitudes.
KW  - glacial equilibrium
KW  - steady state topography
KW  - glacial erosion
KW  - glacial buzzsaw
KW  - rock uplift-relief scaling
KW  - scaling relation
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1029/2017JF004559
SN  - 2169-9003
SN  - 2169-9011
VL  - 123
IS  - 6
SP  - 1344
EP  - 1362
PB  - American Geophysical Union
CY  - Washington
ER  -