A unified kinematic wave theory for melt infiltration into firn

Abstract

Motivated by the refreezing of melt water in firn we revisit the one-dimensional percolation of liquid water and non-reactive gas in porous ice. We analyze the dynamics of infiltration in the absence of capillary forces and heat conduction to understand the coupling between advective heat and mass transport in firn. In this limit, we formulate a kinematic wave theory that results in a 2X2-system of hyperbolic partial differential equations (PDEs) corresponding to the conservation of composition and enthalpy. For simple initial conditions (Riemann problems) this system admits self-similar solutions that illuminate the structure of melting/refreezing fronts and analytical solutions are provided for 12 basic cases of physical relevance encountered in the literature. Further we develop an extended kinematic theory that encompasses the cases when the firn saturates completely to form a perched water table governed by elliptic PDE so that the model is no longer fully hyperbolic (local). These solutions provide benchmarks for numerical models of melt infiltration into firn. They also provide insight into important physical processes such as the formation of frozen fringes, the perching of meltwater on pre-existing low porosity layers and the conditions required for impermeable ice lens formation. Lastly, these analytic solutions can be utilized to improve and compare the performance of the firn hydrology, ice-sheet and Earth system models. Our analysis provides a theoretical framework to understand these important processes in firn which affect the partitioning between meltwater infiltration and surface runoff and therefore determine the surface mass loss from ice sheets and its contribution to sea level rise.