Characteristics of tide-water calving at Glacier San Rafael, Chile

Tests the influence of local environmental variables on the magnitude and frequency distributions of calving behaviour. Near the terminus of the glacier, surface speeds average 17 m d^-1 in summer and calving is profuse and continual. Mean daily calving exceeds 400 events per day and the mean calving flux is more than 2 Mm³d^-1. Mean annual calving speed and calving flux are about 4500 m a ^-1 and 2.0 km³a^-1, respectively. This calving speed is higher than that predicted by the established empirical relationships between tide-water calving speed and water depth. Daily patterns of calving frequency and flux correlate poorly or not at all with meteorological variables, but tidal stage may have some control over the timing of large submarine calving events. The relatively small total flux recorded from the submerged part of the ice cliff may imply unusually rapid melt rates. -from Authors