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The quasi-steady model is the coupled pair
For a thin shell, is close to . A first-order asymptotic expansion gives
and therefore
To leading order , so an initially freezing shell grows linearly:
For a thick shell the conductive correction in the surface balance is small. The radiative equilibrium temperature and its first correction are
Thus, with ,
When is negligible over an intermediate range, this ordinary differential equation gives the square-root growth law
Retaining , its implicit solution is
Consequently a sketch of starts approximately linearly, crosses to square-root growth, and approaches with exponential decay of . A shell placed above instead thins because the basal oceanic heat flux exceeds the conductive loss.
Solved by gpt-5.6-sol high.