<p>For glaciology related doubts, the first place to look is <strong>The Physics of Glaciers</strong> by Kurt M. Cuffey, W. S. B. Paterson. Going through the section 3.4.5 <em>Controls on Creep Parameter A</em>, should give you a good insight on the topic. It also includes example values.    </p>

<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/LdNx0.png" alt="enter image description here"></p>

<p>As well as recommendations for values of A as a function of temperature.
<img src="https://i.sstatic.net/IrmJU.png" alt="enter image description here"></p>

<p>This section is included in the <a href="https://books.google.no/books?id=Jca2v1u1EKEC&amp;printsec=frontcover&amp;dq=inauthor:%22W.%20S.%20B.%20Paterson%22&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=PvleVdPbHKKuygOHm4CoCg&amp;ved=0CCYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false" rel="nofollow noreferrer">preview</a> of the book on Google books.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-05-22T15:16:48.823Z
Wonderful, thank you! I was actually looking in the google preview of this book and somehow failed to find these tables. By the way, hope you don't mind me saying -- "doubt" is a synonym for "question" in many languages, but not in english -- it's a common mistake.
foobarbecue
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-05-22T09:54:13.297Z
2015-05-22T09:54:13.297Z
Vikram
<p>The Glen flow law for glaciers is a common relationship linking stress to strain. At its simplest,</p>

<p>$\Sigma = k\tau^n$</p>

<p>where $\tau$ is stress, $\Sigma$ is strain, and $n$ is roughly 3.</p>

<p>I understand that $k$ depends on temperature and material properties of the ice, and that it can vary over two or three orders of magnitude.</p>

<p>I have been searching the literature to find some example values of $k$ (also called $B$ and $A$) but so far I've had a surprisingly hard time. Is there somewhere that has a compilation of $k$ values from various studies?</p>

<glaciology>
Typical values of Glen flow law for glaciers?
foobarbecue
# Typical values of Glen flow law for glaciers?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-05-22)

The Glen flow law for glaciers is a common relationship linking stress to strain. At its simplest,

$\Sigma = k\tau^n$

where $\tau$ is stress, $\Sigma$ is strain, and $n$ is roughly 3.

I understand that $k$ depends on temperature and material properties of the ice, and that it can vary over two or three orders of magnitude.

I have been searching the literature to find some example values of $k$ (also called $B$ and $A$) but so far I've had a surprisingly hard time. Is there somewhere that has a compilation of $k$ values from various studies?

**Tags:** glaciology


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2015-05-22. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

For glaciology related doubts, the first place to look is **The Physics of Glaciers** by Kurt M. Cuffey, W. S. B. Paterson. Going through the section 3.4.5 *Controls on Creep Parameter A*, should give you a good insight on the topic. It also includes example values.

![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/LdNx0.png)

As well as recommendations for values of A as a function of temperature.
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/IrmJU.png)

This section is included in the [preview](https://books.google.no/books?id=Jca2v1u1EKEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:%22W.%20S.%20B.%20Paterson%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=PvleVdPbHKKuygOHm4CoCg&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false) of the book on Google books.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Wonderful, thank you! I was actually looking in the google preview of this book and somehow failed to find these tables. By the way, hope you don't mind me saying -- "doubt" is a synonym for "question" in many languages, but not in english -- it's a common mistake.  

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