A dynamic model of ice ridge buildup

Dynamic models of ice rafting and ice ridge buildup are elaborated. The milestone of the models is the conception of a ridgeline accumulating broken ice due to vertical displacements of ice blocks separated from the edges of compressed floes. The ridgeline is considered as a discontinuity line over which ice drift velocity is changed by a leap. The estimated characteristics of ice continuum along the ridgeline are the linear densities of volume, impulse, and energy. The equations describing the motion of the ridgeline and the growth of ridge volume are constructed. The expression for internal ice stress on the ridgeline is found in explicit form for arbitrary scenario of ridge buildup. Elaborated theory is used for the estimations of ice stresses for most typically observed scenarios of ice rafting and ice ridging. Simulated stresses are compared with the results of laboratory experiments and discrete particle modeling.