ABSTRACT
The mechanical stress caused by wind and/or sea currents may play an important role in the ice cover behavior scenario. In the present work we consider the fast (permanently joined with a shore) ice sheet destruction in the Kara Sea. The Kara Sea is partly covered by fast ice during cold seasons and its destruction and development is subjected to the strong offshore winds. The applied geomechanical model is based on the Particle Flow Code (PFC2D ). The code deals with round particles/disks, which can be bonded together to simulate rigid bodies and continuum media. In the beginning of the modeling process such disks fill out all free space in the investigated area. Then, a load is applied caused by the wind drag force. It leads to mechanical break-up of the ice sheet and causes the ice drift. Two approaches: quasi-static and dynamic are considered. In both cases the PFC2D simulation revealed similar results. The simulation results basically showed that the shoreline geometry, as well as numerous islands, play a significant role in fast ice extent anchoring the ice sheet to the sea floor and prevent its early destruction. It is shown that the ice cover destruction process is subjected to the wind direction alterations non-uniformly throughout the Kara Sea basin.
