Shape evolution and capsize dynamics of melting ice

Abstract

Ice melting is a complex, dynamic, and multiscale process involving many feedback effects. An essential but poorly understood factor for floating ice is the potential to overturn, as dramatically demonstrated by capsizing icebergs. Here we study the melting-induced reshaping of ice coupled to its free rotation dynamics and find that periods of stable equilibrium are punctuated by spontaneous capsize events. Laboratory experiments on floating ice show that melting produces faceted and angular shapes whose tendency to orient to the waterline is repeatedly upset by rolling over. Similar geometries and motions are reproduced in simulations that drive the shape development via differential melt rate over the surface and which solve for the rotational dynamics subject to shape-dependent forcing from gravity, buoyancy, and hydrodynamics. Melting gradually drives the structure toward postural instability while also priming other orientations that prove stable when reached by abrupt flipping. These findings show how the shape and motions of ice are inextricably linked at fundamental scales, and they reveal mechanisms that may be operative for natural conditions.