Fig. 3: Formation area of the Joerg Peninsula (JP) suture zone.
From: Seawater softening of suture zones inhibits fracture propagation in Antarctic ice shelves
TanDEM-X Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)-derived interferometric DEM for 27 January 2012, as outlined by red box in inset. The red dotted line in the main image shows the grounding line. The unnamed glacier calves blocks of firn and meteoric ice into the formation area (ISU-3 in Fig. 4c, d), which are physically elevated (white colours) relative to the thinner mélange (ISU-4, green colours) that forms between them. This heterogeneous mixture of ice blocks and mélange is then compressed laterally into the nascent suture zone by the converging meteoric ice-shelf units derived from Trail and Solberg inlets (ISU-6 in Fig. 4c, d). The diminishing elevation differences between the glacier-derived blocks and the mélange with distance from the JP’s tip are then due to surface accumulation of the in situ firn (ISU-1) and meteoric ice (ISU-2) layers and the accretion of basal marine ice (ISU-5).
