Abstract Ice Memory is an international project aiming at creating a global ice archive sanctuary in Antarctica. The design of a perennial subsurface storage space for the cores is a cornerstone of this project. Here, we use an ice/firn flow model to investigate possible storage solutions that would meet the specific requirements of the project. To this end, we consider two extreme cases in terms of rigidity of the facility: an ice cave excavated into the firn and a perfectly rigid container buried within it. We focus on the rate of sinking of the facility as well as on the rate of closure of the cave and the evolution of the normal stresses supported by the container. Our results show that the lifetime of a cave is highly affected by the initial density of snow in its surrounding. On the other hand, the presence of the rigid container within the domain perturbs the flow of snow, creating patches of high density in its surrounding and leading to significant normal stresses on its walls. In particular, strong stress concentrations are obtained at the container angles. These results prove that unreinforced shipping containers are unsuited for this task.

中文翻译：

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比较一个雪洞和一个埋在南极洲圆顶 C 的刚性容器的长期命运

摘要 冰记忆是一项旨在在南极建立全球冰档案保护区的国际项目。为核心设计一个常年地下存储空间是该项目的基石。在这里，我们使用冰/冰流模型来研究可能满足项目特定要求的存储解决方案。为此，我们考虑了设施刚性方面的两种极端情况：在冷杉中开挖的冰洞和埋在其中的完全刚性的容器。我们关注设施的下沉速度以及洞穴的关闭速度和容器支撑的法向应力的演变。我们的结果表明，洞穴的寿命受其周围雪的初始密度的影响很大。另一方面，域内刚性容器的存在扰乱了雪的流动，在其周围形成了高密度的斑块，并导致其壁上产生显着的法向应力。特别是，在容器角度处获得了强烈的应力集中。这些结果证明未加固的集装箱不适合这项任务。