Work

Scalable Phase‐Field Implementation of Crack Evolution (SPICE) for Modeling Surface Crevasse Growth and Interaction in Glaciers

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Iceberg calving driven by crevasse propagation is an important source of ice loss from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. However, simulating crevasse growth and interaction in 3D, spanning meters to kilometers length scales, remains computationally challenging for high‐fidelity models based on nonlocal continuum damage mechanics and phase‐field fracture approaches. The high computational cost of high‐fidelity models comes from the need to adequately resolve the damage/phase‐field length scale (often meters in scale) within the finite element method to capture complex crevasse patterns and interactions, involving stress redistribution, shielding, and coalescence. To overcome this difficulty, a scalable parallel implementation for crack evolution is developed using the open‐source finite element software FEniCS, which features a novel recursively adaptive mesh refinement (RAMR) algorithm to solve the stress‐based phase‐field fracture model equations in 3D. The RAMR algorithm automatically refines the mesh in the fracture process zones based on the phase field variable and a user‐defined finest cell size to capture crack propagation and coalescence accurately and efficiently. Idealized simulations of kilometer‐scale glacier domains show 13‐ to 45‐fold speedup compared to locally refined meshes, with less than 2% discrepancy in crevasse depth. This computational efficiency enables kilometer‐scale simulations of a field of closely spaced crevasses showcasing arcuate paths and crisscross patterns, resembling field and remotely‐sensed observations of glacier crevasses. The simulations also reveal that crevasse growth is predominantly governed by tensile principal stresses, which are determined by the initial crevasse spacing and margin boundary conditions.

Source: Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems

DOI: 10.1029/2026ms005786

Authors: Abhinav Gupta, Duc Tien Nguyen, Ravindra Duddu, Meghana Ranganathan, Alexander Robel

Institutions: Vanderbilt University, University of Chicago, Georgia Institute of Technology

Language: English

Topic: Cryospheric studies and observations

Subfield: Atmospheric Science

Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,650

Funder: National Science Foundation