Stokes variational inequalities arise in the formulation of glaciological problems involving contact. Two important examples of such problems are that of the grounding line of a marine ice sheet and the evolution of a subglacial cavity. In general, rigid modes are present in the velocity space, rendering the variational inequality semicoercive. In this work, we consider a mixed formulation of this variational inequality involving a Lagrange multiplier and provide an analysis of its finite element approximation. Error estimates in the presence of rigid modes are obtained by means of a novel technique involving metric projections onto closed convex cones. Numerical results are reported to validate the error estimates and demonstrate the advantages of using a mixed formulation in a glaciological application.
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