Multiscale modeling of ice deformation behavior

• We provide a review of the modeling of ice mechanical behavior.
• This review covers the scale range from single crystal to ice flow in ice sheets.
• Ice is a model material for the modeling of viscoplastic behavior with large anisotropy.
• Recrystallization is modeled using combined approaches.
• We present large scale ice flow models accounting for fabric development.

Understanding the flow of ice in glaciers and polar ice sheets is of increasing relevance in a time of potentially significant climate change. The flow of ice has hitherto received relatively little attention from the structural geological community. This paper aims to provide an overview of methods and results of ice deformation modeling from the single crystal to the polycrystal scale, and beyond to the scale of polar ice sheets. All through these scales, various models have been developed to understand, describe and predict the processes that operate during deformation of ice, with the aim to correctly represent ice rheology and self-induced anisotropy. Most of the modeling tools presented in this paper originate from the material science community, and are currently used and further developed for other materials and environments. We will show that this community has deeply integrated ice as a very useful “model” material to develop and validate approaches in conditions of a highly anisotropic behavior. This review, by no means exhaustive, aims at providing an overview of methods at different scales and levels of complexity.

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