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  • Open Access

Chaotic variability in a model of coupled ice streams

Kolja Kypke1,2,*, Peter Ashwin3, and Peter Ditlevsen2

  • *Contact author: kkypke@uoguelph.ca
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Phys. Rev. E 113, 044203 – Published 8 April, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/7zg9-96y1

Abstract

Regions of fast-flowing ice in ice sheets, known as ice streams, have been theorized to be able to exhibit build-up/surge oscillatory variability due to thermomechanical coupling at the base of the ice. A simple model of three coupled ice streams is constructed to replicate the spatial configuration of a single ice stream being bisected into two termini. The model is constructed to mimic existing branching ice streams in northern Greenland. This model is shown to exhibit both steady-flow and build-up/surge oscillations. Further, the variability can be chaotic due to the nonlinear coupling of three incommensurate frequencies. This provides a mode of chaotic internal variability for ice sheets that contain these types of ice streams.

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Phys. Rev. E 113, 044203– Published 8 April, 2026
  • Received 15 October 2025
  • Accepted 24 February 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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