Grounding-line dynamics in a Stokes ice-flow model (Elmer/Ice v9.0): improved numerical stability allows larger time steps

Henry, A. Clara J.; Zwinger, Thomas; Ahlkrona, Josefin

doi:10.5194/gmd-19-7817-2026

Articles | Volume 19, issue 16

https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-19-7817-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-19-7817-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 19, issue 16

Development and technical paper

|

21 Aug 2026

Development and technical paper |

| 21 Aug 2026

Grounding-line dynamics in a Stokes ice-flow model (Elmer/Ice v9.0): improved numerical stability allows larger time steps

A. Clara J. Henry, Thomas Zwinger, and Josefin Ahlkrona

Data sets

Model output data for the publication "Grounding-line dynamics in a Stokes ice-flow model: Improved numerical stability allows larger time steps" A. Clara J. Henry https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16909985

Model code and software

Code for the publication "Grounding-line dynamics in a Stokes ice-flow model: Improved numerical stability allows larger time steps" A. Clara J. Henry https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21681869

ElmerCSC/elmerfem: Elmer 9.0 Juha Ruokolainen et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7892181

Short summary

To overcome time-step restrictions, we implement the Free-Surface Stabilisation Algorithm (FSSA) at the ice-ocean interface in Stokes ice-sheet simulations. In 2D experiments, a time step of 10 years is generally numerically stable and accurate, whereas a time step of 50 years is stable, but cannot fully capture grounding-line dynamics. Implementation at the ice-ocean interface increases the applicability of Stokes models and motivates future coupling with adaptive time-stepping schemes.