Formation Mechanisms of Large‐Scale Folding in Greenland's Ice Sheet

Abstract Radio‐echo sounding (RES) shows large‐scale englacial stratigraphic folds are ubiquitous in Greenland's ice sheet. However, there is no consensus yet on how these folds form. Here, we use the full‐Stokes code Underworld2 to simulate ice movements in three‐dimensional convergent flow, mainly considering ice anisotropy due to a crystallographic preferred orientation, vertical viscosity and density gradients in ice layers, and bedrock topography. Our simulated folds show complex patterns and are classified into: large‐scale folds (>100 m amplitude), small‐scale folds (<