Use the common-density, equal-volume-heat-capacity model implicit in the stated speed law. Let the liquid fraction be ahead of the melting front and behind it. Melting adds exactly the liquid needed to fill the newly created pores, so total mass conservation makes Darcy flux continuous. Consequently,
Here denotes Darcy velocity and the pore-liquid velocity in the stationary rock frame. Treating the pore-space increase as storage without its simultaneous melting source would incorrectly change the Darcy flux.
Relative to the cold unmelted material, the bulk enthalpy increase behind the front is : all phases gain sensible heat and the melted ice consumes latent heat. The advective heat-flux difference is . Applying the Rankine-Hugoniot condition to this energy balance therefore gives
so the advection-driven melting front in a porous matrix moves at
The advected latent contribution of the liquid is the same on both sides and cancels; the denominator measures sensible heating plus phase-change energy per unit bulk volume.
Solid fraction 2026-10-05
The solid fraction is the volume fraction occupied by solid in a solid–liquid mixture. The complementary liquid fraction is .