Creep and Fracture of Ice

This is the first complete account of the physics of the creep and fracture of ice, and their interconnectivity. It investigates the deformation of low-pressure ice, which is fundamental to glaciers, polar ice sheets and the uppermost region of icy moons of the outer Solar System. The book discusses ice structure and its defects, and describes the relationship between structure and mechanical properties. It reviews observations and measurements, and then interprets them in terms of physical mechanisms. The book provides a road-map to future studies of ice mechanics, such as the behaviour of glaciers and ice sheets in relation to climate change and the dating of deep ice cores. It also highlights how this knowledge is transferable into an understanding of other crystalline materials. Written by experts in the field, it is ideal for graduate students, engineers and scientists in Earth and planetary science, and materials science.

Erland M. Schulson completed his Ph.D. at the University of British Columbia, and is the George Austin Colligan Distinguished Professor of Engineering at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire. He has worked on physical metallurgy, materials science and ice mechanics in laboratories and universities in Canada, France, the USA and the UK. He has served as a Fellow of the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society and of ASM International, and been listed in ISI as a highly cited researcher in materials science. He holds four patents in the field, has published over 250 papers in international technical literature, and has been invited to lecture at over 100 conferences, workshops and research centres. Paul Duval completed his Ph.D. at the University of Grenoble, and has been a Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Research Scientist in the Laboratory of Glaciology and Geophysics of the Environment since 1969. His areas of research include ice physics and mechanics, glaciology and materials science. His studies on densification of snow have been developed with applications in paleoclimatology, and he has recently worked on the viscous behaviour of the ice on Europa, one of Jupiter's moons. He has published over 100 refereed papers in international journals.