Sliding-dominated glacier kinematic wave ($h_t+(h^{m+1}{)}_x=a,c=(m+1)u_s$)

For a shallow glacier with basal traction proportional to thickness and sliding law $u_b\propto {\tau }_b^m$, negligible internal-deformation flux gives $u_b\propto h^m$. After scaling, the thickness flux is $h^{m+1}$. Linearization around a steady thickness $h_{\ast }(x)$ gives ${\zeta }_t+[c(x)\zeta {]}_x=0$, $c=(m+1)h_{\ast }^m$. Thickness disturbances therefore propagate faster than the surface material speed $u_s\simeq h_{\ast }^m$ by factor $m+1$.

A steady accumulation profile and upstream discharge $q_{\mathrm{in}}$ give $h_{\ast }^{m+1}=q_{\mathrm{in}}+{\int }_0^{x}a(\xi )d\xi$. Along a disturbance ray, $dx/dt=c$ and $d\zeta /dt=-c^{\prime }\zeta$, so a spatially varying background also changes amplitude. The surface-speed ratio is specific to sliding-dominated flow; internal deformation and significant surface-slope corrections change the flux derivative.