Morphology of melting ice surfaces

Melting surfaces, for example in glaciers and icebergs, develop complex underwater patterns, including scallops. In this study we look at formation of scallops for an ice block (L ≈ 30 cm) in quiescent salty water reaching Ra ≈ 10¹¹. Using profilometry techniques, in particular the spatiotemporal phase shifting method (ST-PSM), we obtain the 3-D surface morphology of the ice as a function of time. We characterize the typical timescale of the pattern-formation, the scallops wavelength and their drift velocity. We also show that the melting rate and the local slope of the ice are strongly correlated.