STICK-SLIP STATISTICAL-MECHANICS AT THE BED OF A GLACIER

The multiple processes which control motion at the bed of glaciers are too heterogeneous to be modeled directly, but a simple stick-slip sli der-block model of a glacier bed allows a statistical mechanical treat ment of the physics beneath thin and shallow sloped glaciers. The tech nique may reconcile apparently contradictory field observations of the relationship between glacier sliding and basal water pressure. Simula tions also predict hysteresis in the relationship between water pressu re and basal velocities.