Articles | Volume 18, issue 13
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-4023-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Special issue:
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-4023-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Development and technical paper
| 
02 Jul 2025
Development and technical paper |
| 02 Jul 2025
| 02 Jul 2025
Anisotropic metric-based mesh adaptation for ice flow modelling in Firedrake
Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Joseph G. Wallwork
Institute of Computing for Climate Science, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Stephan C. Kramer
Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, London, UK
Fabien Gillet-Chaulet
Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, INRAE, IRD, Grenoble INP, IGE, 38000 Grenoble, France
Regine Hock
Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, USA
Matthew D. Piggott
Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, London, UK
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Heiko Goelzer, Constantijn J. Berends, Fredrik Boberg, Gael Durand, Tamsin Edwards, Xavier Fettweis, Fabien Gillet-Chaulet, Quentin Glaude, Philippe Huybrechts, Sébastien Le clec'h, Ruth Mottram, Brice Noël, Martin Olesen, Charlotte Rahlves, Jeremy Rohmer, Michiel van den Broeke, and Roderik S. W. van de Wal
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3098, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3098, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for The Cryosphere (TC).
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We present an ensemble of ice sheet model projections for the Greenland ice sheet. The focus is on providing projections that improve our understanding of the range future sea-level rise and the inherent uncertainties over the next 100 to 300 years. Compared to earlier work we more fully account for some of the uncertainties in sea-level projections. We include a wider range of climate model output, more climate change scenarios and we extend projections schematically up to year 2300.
Cyrille Mosbeux, Peter Råback, Adrien Gilbert, Julien Brondex, Fabien Gillet-Chaulet, Nicolas C. Jourdain, Mondher Chekki, Olivier Gagliardini, and Gaël Durand
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3039, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3039, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Geoscientific Model Development (GMD).
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Transport processes like rocks carried by ice flow and damage evolution – a proxy for crevasses – are key in ice sheet modeling and should occur without diffusion. Yet, standard numerical methods often blur these features. We explore a particle-based Semi-Lagrangian approach, comparing it to a Discontinuous Galerkin method, and show it can accurately simulate such transport when run at high enough resolution.
Justine Caillet, Nicolas C. Jourdain, Pierre Mathiot, Fabien Gillet-Chaulet, Benoit Urruty, Clara Burgard, Charles Amory, Mondher Chekki, and Christoph Kittel
Earth Syst. Dynam., 16, 293–315, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-16-293-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-16-293-2025, 2025
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Internal climate variability, resulting from processes intrinsic to the climate system, modulates the Antarctic response to climate change by delaying or offsetting its effects. Using climate and ice-sheet models, we highlight that irreducible internal climate variability significantly enlarges the likely range of Antarctic contribution to sea-level rise until 2100. Thus, we recommend considering internal climate variability as a source of uncertainty for future ice-sheet projections.
Eliot Jager, Fabien Gillet-Chaulet, Nicolas Champollion, Romain Millan, Heiko Goelzer, and Jérémie Mouginot
The Cryosphere, 18, 5519–5550, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-5519-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-5519-2024, 2024
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Inspired by a previous intercomparison framework, our study better constrains uncertainties in glacier evolution using an innovative method to validate Bayesian calibration. Upernavik Isstrøm, one of Greenland's largest glaciers, has lost significant mass since 1985. By integrating observational data, climate models, human emissions, and internal model parameters, we project its evolution until 2100. We show that future human emissions are the main source of uncertainty in 2100, making up half.
Sia Ghelichkhan, Angus Gibson, D. Rhodri Davies, Stephan C. Kramer, and David A. Ham
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 5057–5086, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-5057-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-5057-2024, 2024
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We introduce the Geoscientific ADjoint Optimisation PlaTform (G-ADOPT), designed for inverse modelling of Earth system processes, with an initial focus on mantle dynamics. G-ADOPT is built upon Firedrake, Dolfin-Adjoint and the Rapid Optimisation Library, which work together to optimise models using an adjoint method, aligning them with seismic and geologic datasets. We demonstrate G-ADOPT's ability to reconstruct mantle evolution and thus be a powerful tool in geosciences.
Eric Petersen, Regine Hock, and Michael G. Loso
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 727–745, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-727-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-727-2024, 2024
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Ice cliffs are melt hot spots that increase melt rates on debris-covered glaciers which otherwise see a reduction in melt rates. In this study, we show how surface runoff streams contribute to the generation, evolution, and survival of ice cliffs by carving into the glacier and transporting rocky debris. On Kennicott Glacier, Alaska, 33 % of ice cliffs are actively influenced by streams, while nearly half are within 10 m of streams.
Shuaib Rasheed, Simon C. Warder, Yves Plancherel, and Matthew D. Piggott
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 737–755, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-737-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-737-2024, 2024
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Here we use a high-resolution bathymetry dataset of the Maldives archipelago, as well as corresponding high numerical model resolution, to carry out a scenario-based tsunami hazard assessment for the entire Maldives archipelago to investigate the potential impact of plausible far-field tsunamis across the Indian Ocean at the island scale. The results indicate that several factors contribute to mitigating and amplifying tsunami waves at the island scale.
Baptiste Vandecrux, Robert S. Fausto, Jason E. Box, Federico Covi, Regine Hock, Åsa K. Rennermalm, Achim Heilig, Jakob Abermann, Dirk van As, Elisa Bjerre, Xavier Fettweis, Paul C. J. P. Smeets, Peter Kuipers Munneke, Michiel R. van den Broeke, Max Brils, Peter L. Langen, Ruth Mottram, and Andreas P. Ahlstrøm
The Cryosphere, 18, 609–631, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-609-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-609-2024, 2024
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How fast is the Greenland ice sheet warming? In this study, we compiled 4500+ temperature measurements at 10 m below the ice sheet surface (T10m) from 1912 to 2022. We trained a machine learning model on these data and reconstructed T10m for the ice sheet during 1950–2022. After a slight cooling during 1950–1985, the ice sheet warmed at a rate of 0.7 °C per decade until 2022. Climate models showed mixed results compared to our observations and underestimated the warming in key regions.
Emily A. Hill, Benoît Urruty, Ronja Reese, Julius Garbe, Olivier Gagliardini, Gaël Durand, Fabien Gillet-Chaulet, G. Hilmar Gudmundsson, Ricarda Winkelmann, Mondher Chekki, David Chandler, and Petra M. Langebroek
The Cryosphere, 17, 3739–3759, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3739-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3739-2023, 2023
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The grounding lines of the Antarctic Ice Sheet could enter phases of irreversible retreat or advance. We use three ice sheet models to show that the present-day locations of Antarctic grounding lines are reversible with respect to a small perturbation away from their current position. This indicates that present-day retreat of the grounding lines is not yet irreversible or self-enhancing.
Ronja Reese, Julius Garbe, Emily A. Hill, Benoît Urruty, Kaitlin A. Naughten, Olivier Gagliardini, Gaël Durand, Fabien Gillet-Chaulet, G. Hilmar Gudmundsson, David Chandler, Petra M. Langebroek, and Ricarda Winkelmann
The Cryosphere, 17, 3761–3783, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3761-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3761-2023, 2023
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We use an ice sheet model to test where current climate conditions in Antarctica might lead. We find that present-day ocean and atmosphere conditions might commit an irreversible collapse of parts of West Antarctica which evolves over centuries to millennia. Importantly, this collapse is not irreversible yet.
Jennifer R. Shadrick, Dylan H. Rood, Martin D. Hurst, Matthew D. Piggott, Klaus M. Wilcken, and Alexander J. Seal
Earth Surf. Dynam., 11, 429–450, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-429-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-429-2023, 2023
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This study uses a coastal evolution model to interpret cosmogenic beryllium-10 concentrations and topographic data and, in turn, quantify long-term cliff retreat rates for four chalk sites on the south coast of England. By using a process-based model, clear distinctions between intertidal weathering rates have been recognised between chalk and sandstone rock coast sites, advocating the use of process-based models to interpret the long-term behaviour of rock coasts.
Mariana C. A. Clare, Tim W. B. Leijnse, Robert T. McCall, Ferdinand L. M. Diermanse, Colin J. Cotter, and Matthew D. Piggott
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 2491–2515, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-2491-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-2491-2022, 2022
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Assessing uncertainty is computationally expensive because it requires multiple runs of expensive models. We take the novel approach of assessing uncertainty from coastal flooding using a multilevel multifidelity (MLMF) method which combines the efficiency of less accurate models with the accuracy of more expensive models at different resolutions. This significantly reduces the computational cost but maintains accuracy, making previously unfeasible real-world studies possible.
D. Rhodri Davies, Stephan C. Kramer, Sia Ghelichkhan, and Angus Gibson
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 5127–5166, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-5127-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-5127-2022, 2022
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Firedrake is a state-of-the-art system that automatically generates highly optimised code for simulating finite-element (FE) problems in geophysical fluid dynamics. It creates a separation of concerns between employing the FE method and implementing it. Here, we demonstrate the applicability and benefits of Firedrake for simulating geodynamical flows, with a focus on the slow creeping motion of Earth's mantle over geological timescales, which is ultimately the engine driving our dynamic Earth.
Anna Derkacheva, Fabien Gillet-Chaulet, Jeremie Mouginot, Eliot Jager, Nathan Maier, and Samuel Cook
The Cryosphere, 15, 5675–5704, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5675-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5675-2021, 2021
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Along the edges of the Greenland Ice Sheet surface melt lubricates the bed and causes large seasonal fluctuations in ice speeds during summer. Accurately understanding how these ice speed changes occur is difficult due to the inaccessibility of the glacier bed. We show that by using surface velocity maps with high temporal resolution and numerical modelling we can infer the basal conditions that control seasonal fluctuations in ice speed and gain insight into seasonal dynamics over large areas.
Jennifer R. Shadrick, Martin D. Hurst, Matthew D. Piggott, Bethany G. Hebditch, Alexander J. Seal, Klaus M. Wilcken, and Dylan H. Rood
Earth Surf. Dynam., 9, 1505–1529, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-1505-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-1505-2021, 2021
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Here we use topographic and 10Be concentration data to optimise a coastal evolution model. Cliff retreat rates are calculated for two UK sites for the past 8000 years and, for the first time, highlight a strong link between the rate of sea level rise and long-term cliff retreat rates. This method enables us to study past cliff response to sea level rise and so to greatly improve forecasts of future responses to accelerations in sea level rise that will result from climate change.
Stephan C. Kramer, D. Rhodri Davies, and Cian R. Wilson
Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 1899–1919, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-1899-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-1899-2021, 2021
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Computational models of Earth's mantle require rigorous verification and validation. Analytical solutions of the underlying Stokes equations provide a method to verify that these equations are accurately solved for. However, their derivation in spherical and cylindrical shell domains with physically relevant boundary conditions is involved. This paper provides a number of solutions. They are provided in a Python package (Assess) and their use is demonstrated in a convergence study with Fluidity.
Nathan Maier, Florent Gimbert, Fabien Gillet-Chaulet, and Adrien Gilbert
The Cryosphere, 15, 1435–1451, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1435-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1435-2021, 2021
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In Greenland, ice motion and the surface geometry depend on the friction at the bed. We use satellite measurements and modeling to determine how ice speeds and friction are related across the ice sheet. The relationships indicate that ice flowing over bed bumps sets the friction across most of the ice sheet's on-land regions. This result helps simplify and improve our understanding of how ice motion will change in the future.
Shuaib Rasheed, Simon C. Warder, Yves Plancherel, and Matthew D. Piggott
Ocean Sci., 17, 319–334, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-17-319-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-17-319-2021, 2021
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Environmental issues arising due to coastal modification and future sea level scenarios are a major environmental hazard facing the Maldives today. Here, we carry out high-resolution tidal modelling of a Maldivian atoll for the first time and show that coastal modification in the island scale is capable of driving large-scale change in the wider atoll basin in a short time, comparable to that of long-term sea level rise scenarios and on par with observations.
Vincent Peyaud, Coline Bouchayer, Olivier Gagliardini, Christian Vincent, Fabien Gillet-Chaulet, Delphine Six, and Olivier Laarman
The Cryosphere, 14, 3979–3994, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3979-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3979-2020, 2020
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Alpine glaciers are retreating at an accelerating rate in a warming climate. Numerical models allow us to study and anticipate these changes, but the performance of a model is difficult to evaluate. So we compared an ice flow model with the long dataset of observations obtained between 1979 and 2015 on Mer de Glace (Mont Blanc area). The model accurately reconstructs the past evolution of the glacier. We simulate the future evolution of Mer de Glace; it could retreat by 2 to 6 km by 2050.
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Short summary
Accurate numerical studies of glaciers often require high-resolution simulations, which often prove too demanding even for modern computers. In this paper we develop a method that identifies whether different parts of a glacier require high or low resolution based on its physical features, such as its thickness and velocity. We show that by doing so we can achieve a more optimal simulation accuracy for the available computing resources compared to uniform-resolution simulations.
Accurate numerical studies of glaciers often require high-resolution simulations, which often...
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