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arXiv · 2608.00731

Buoyancy-driven melt rate of a vertical ice surface in seawater

Ho Yin Ng·Emily S. C. Ching
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Abstract

Reliable estimates of the melt rate of tidewater glaciers require accurate knowledge of salt and heat fluxes at the near-vertical ice-ocean interface and such knowledge is currently lacking. In this paper, we present a theory for salt and heat fluxes in the idealized system of turbulent double-diffusive convection in an infinite vertical channel and show how this theory can be extended to give theoretical estimate of the buoyancy-driven melt rate of a vertical ice surface in seawater. Our theoretical results are shown to be in good agreement with direct numerical simulation data and measurements from laboratory experiments.

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Ho Yin Ng, Emily S. C. Ching. 2026-08-01. Buoyancy-driven melt rate of a vertical ice surface in seawater. https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.00731

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