  While it has been shown repeatedly that ocean conditions exhibit an important
control on the behaviour of grounded tidewater glaciers, modelling studies have
focused largely on the effects of basal and surface melting. Here, a
finite-element model of stresses near the front of a tidewater glacier is used
to investigate the effects of frontal melting on calving, independently of the
calving criterion used. Applications of the stress model to idealized scenarios
reveal that undercutting of the ice front due to frontal melting can drive
calving at up to ten times the mean melt rate. Factors which cause increased
frontal melt-driven calving include a strong thermal gradient in the ice, and a
concentration of frontal melt at the base of the glacier. These properties are
typical of both Arctic and Antarctic tidewater glaciers. The finding that
frontal melt near the base is a strong driver of calving leads to the
conclusion that water temperatures near the bed of the glacier are critically
important to the glacier front, and thus the flow of the glacier. These
conclusions are robust against changes in the basal boundary condition and the
choice of calving criterion, as well as variations in the glacier size or level
of crevassing.
