The power strength of the radio-echo signal coming from reflecting sub-ice surfaces is used to determine the nature of the reflecting surface, i.e. rock, water or sea water. Electromagnetic analysis shows that the amplitude variations detected by radio-echo sounding are mainly due to the nature of the interface as well as the concave or convex shape of the reflectors. In this paper, some relevant profiles showing the power variations due to the different nature of the interface and the shape of the reflectors are presented. These results are important both for surface shape determination and for subglacial lake detection.

There appear to have been several important glacial advances on the southern slope of the west Kunlun mountains, Tibetan Plateau, since 45 000 a BP. Based on the record of alternating till and lacustrine sediments and 14C determinations, these advances are dated to 23 000–16 000, 8500–8000, and 4000–2500 a BP, and to the 16th–19th century AD, with regional variations occurring during each of the advances. The glaciation of 23 000–16 000 a BP is equivalent to the last glacial maximum (LGM) and its scope and scale were much larger than any of the others.

Lake changes are a response to both tectonic uplift of the plateau and global climatic change. With regard to the latter, both changes in precipitation and changes in the extent of glaciation can affect lake levels. High lake levels occurred during interstadial conditions between 40 000 and 30 000 a BP, when the area experienced a relatively warm and humid climate, and during the LGM, between 21 000 and 15 000 a BP. During the Holocene, lakes have been shrinking gradually, coincident with the dry climate of this period of time.

An extensive investigation of the visible stratigraphy, microparticle concentration, liquid conductivity, oxygen isotopes and beta-radioactivity was conducted in pits excavated at Amundsen-Scott South Pole station. The objectives of the investigation were to assess the spatial representativeness of the geochemical and physical records preserved within the snow strata and to ascertain the temporal resolution which can be obtained from such ice-core records. Accurate interpretation of the time scale and reconstruction of climatic conditions from these time series requires (1) the analysis of as many stratigraphic parameters as possible and (2) the synthesis of data from a suite of cores in the study area. For periods of 10 a or less, regionally representative accumulation rates cannot be obtained from annual accumulation time series reconstructed at a single site. Although the microparticle concentrations, liquid conductivity and oxygen isotopic abundances all exhibit a seasonal cycle in the firn, the construction of an accurate time scale requires all three parameters in conjunction with the beta-radioactivity. Absolute dating will be impossible for cores from South Pole where entire accumulation years may be missing. Nevertheless, for East Antarctica, where accumulation rates are low (<0.1 m a−1 water equivalent), the good temporal resolution and the preservation of a distinct annual signal in some geochemical parameters makes the South Pole a very attractive site for deep ice-core drilling.

Ice-crystal textures (sizes and shapes) and fabrics (c-axis orientations) have been determined in 3 m of vertical thin sections from the Greenland Icecore Project (GRIP) ice core. the samples cover ice from before, during and after Greenland interstadial 3 (IS3) that occurred about 25 kyr BP. the texture of 60 000 crystals has been obtained from stacked digital images by semi-automated methods, and the fabric of 5000 selected crystals has been measured on the Automatic Ice Fabric Analyzer at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Bremerhaven. the area distribution function of the crystals is close to a log normal distribution, and the mean area is found to be 3.36 mm2 in ice from IS3, and 3.04 mm2 in ice from colder periods before and after IS3. the overall c-axis orientations show a strong single maximum with vertical orientation. These results agree well with earlier GRIP fabric studies obtained by manual methods. from comparisons of crystal areas with the concentrations of dust, Ca2+, SO42–, Cl– and NO3– in the ice we determine that NO3– correlates best with crystal areas. Crystals within clearly visible cloudy bands are significantly smaller than the surrounding crystals, and their c-axis orientations are less well confined than the average.

Extensive aircraft-based radar ice-thickness measurements over the interior and outlet-glacier regions of the Greenland ice sheet have been obtained by the University of Kansas since 1993, with the latest airborne surveys conducted in May 2001. the radar has evolved during this period to a highly versatile system capable of characterizing ice thickness over a wide variety of ice-sheet conditions. Before 1997, the digital system was limited, only capable of storing incoherent data or coherent data with a very large number of presumed signals at a low pulse-repetition frequency. In 1998, the radar was upgraded with modern components allowing coherent data to be stored with a small number of presumed returns for 1024 range cells at a high pulse-repetition frequency. the new data on ice thickness of Greenland outlet glaciers are archived and made available to the scientific community in the form of radar echograms and derived ice thickness at http://tornado.rsl.ukans.edu/Greenlanddata.htm. the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) also provides a link to these data, and NSIDC will eventually serve as the permanent archive of these data. Improvements in radar sensitivity in outlet-glacier regions have been achieved by collecting coherent radar data and applying various signal-processing techniques. Deep outlet-glacier channels that were previously unresolved with incoherent data can now be mapped using a coherent signal, signal conditioning and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) processing.

The US Geological Survey is conducting a program to prepare digitally enhanced Multispectral Scanner (MSS) Landsat images of Antarctica. The goal is to furnish accurate planimetric, false-colour composite image maps in Lambert conformal conic projection for the following purposes: (1) to locate and delineate blue-ice areas for the collection of meteorites; (2) to produce special purpose maps showing selected features; (3) to provide synoptic views that aid in the detection and interpretation of glaciological features associated with the inland ice sheet, outlet glaciers, ice streams, and ice shelves; (4) to monitor changes in coastline and glacial features; (5) to enable the superposition and correlation of different types of digital cartographic data; and (6) to furnish spectral and (or) structural information in areas of limited bedrock outcrop to aid in regional geologic interpretation. Only the first four of these objectives are addressed here.

About 170 Landsat computer-compatible tapes covering Victoria Land, the coastline of West Antarctica, the Antarctic Peninsula, and other selected areas were assembled into false-color, multi-spectral, digital composites of band 4 (0.5 to 0.6 μm, green), band 5 (0.6 to 0.7 μm, red) and band 7 (0.8 to 1.1 μm, near infra-red). The tapes were subjected to routine image-processing procedures, such as noise removal and radiometric and geometric corrections. Further processing included haze removal and enhancement by linear stretching of individual MSS bands based on inspection of gray-value (digital-number) histograms. Saturation of snow-covered scenes in bands 4, 5, and 6 is a severe problem in Landsat MSS images of Antarctica and makes many images unsuitable for multi-spectral work. We have developed special techniques to restore the saturated snow-and-ice information in these bands to overcome this problem.

The Landsat image maps have different formats, depending on their planned applications. An example of a planimetric image map is the one of the McMurdo Sound area; it is based on excellent ground control and processed at full spatial resolution. It comprises five complete and three partial 1 : 250 000 scale topographic quadrangles. One of these is the Convoy Range quadrangle which includes the Allan Hills meteorite-collection site. Blue-ice areas show exceptionally well on this quadrangle, and new information on blue-ice locations and delineations was obtained from it.

Thematic maps prepared for the Byrd Glacier area selectively show only rock or ice areas, thus depicting the location of desired features. Synoptic-view maps and mosaics provide information on flow lines associated with ice streams, the location of ice rises, ice rumples, and other possible grounded areas, and the location and extent of buried mountain ranges. Image maps which cover the same area at different times do show changes: a 10-year interval between Landsat images obtained in the Byrd Glacier area shows that crevasses had opened and rifts had drifted within the floating part of the glacier; measurements of the changed positions have yielded average velocities for glacier and ice-shelf movements in that area. The ease with which the dynamics of the coastline can be monitored on Landsat images is particularly useful, because such changes have implications for variations in world climate.

A physical model for the snow/firn densification process (Salamatin and others, 2006) and Martinerie and others’ (1992, 1994) correlation for the firn density at the pore closure are employed to perform a scale analysis and computational experiments in order to deduce simplified relations for the close-off depth and ice age in quasi-stationary ice formation conditions. The critical snow density at which ice-grain rearrangement stops is used to take into account variability of snow structures subjected to densification. The results obtained are validated on a representative set of ice-core data from 22 sites which covers wide ranges of present-day temperatures and ice accumulation rates. A simple analytical approximation for the density–depth profile is proposed.

The SideWinder is a power delivery system for a hand-coring ice auger. It not only greatly increases the rate of drilling, it also makes it possible for a single operator to drill to depths difficult and cumbersome for hand-coring systems. The SideWinder power is delivered by an electric drill that is used for both the drilling and the lifting of the drill string. A high-strength low-stretch synthetic-fiber rope lifts and lowers the drill string as it winds around a tube attached to the electric drill. During winding, the synthetic-fiber rope is guided onto the winding tube by rope cleats that also serve as a quick way to secure the rope for drilling. The end of the winding tube connects directly to the protruding extension of the drill string for drilling. The rope always remains attached to the drill string by a rope-pin that replaces the bottommost connecting pin; the winding tube holds the rope and always stays attached to the electric drill. For lifting and lowering the drill string, cradle arms on a frame that hinges on a plywood platform hold the winding tube.

The aim of this study is to derive basic ice dynamics for Nivlisen, a relatively small ice shelf in Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica, and its drainage area. Therefore, the adaptation of an existing three-dimensional numerical flow model (Sandhäger, 2000) was undertaken, which had been applied previously to Ekstromisen and its drainage system. Compared to that region, Nivlisen and its drainage area represent a significantly more complicated geometrical situation. This has consequently large impacts on the flow regime, i.e. several modifications are necessary and reasonable. The diagnostic modelling is carried out in order to derive the current ice dynamics. The resulting ice-flow velocities seem to be too small compared to typical values for such glaciers. Therefore, the basal temperature at some gridpoints was set to pressure-melting point to obtain more realistic results. Furthermore, the use of a spatially varying parameter to describe basal sliding is advisable. Presenting the numerical results, the focus lies on the modelled ice-velocity field. The mass-balance quantities are calculated from the simulated velocity distribution and the underlying ice-geometry models derived from different datasets. The diagnostic results will serve as the basis for future prognostic modelling studies.

The Antarctic Circumpolar Wave (ACW) is identified by White and Peterson (1996) as anomalies in sea-level pressure, meridional wind stress (MWS), sea-surface temperature (SST) and sea-ice extent (SIE) propagating eastward over the Southern Ocean. In this study, the ACW is examined using a global coupled ice-ocean model with an average horizontal grid size of 1/4°. The model is forced with 1979−93 daily average atmospheric data from the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) re-analysis (ERA). The sea-ice model includes both dynamics and thermodynamics, and the ocean model is a primitive-equation, free-surface, z-coordinate model. Both standing and propagating oscillations are present in ERA surface net heat-flux (NHF) and MWS anomalies. The ocean and ice respond to such atmospheric forcing with similar standing and propagating oscillations. For the propagating mode, SIE, SST and sea-surface salinity anomalies propagate eastward with a period of about 4−5 years and take about 8−9 years to encircle the Antarctic continent. Thus, the simulated ACW is a wavenumber-2 phenomenon which agrees with the ACW identified by White and Peterson (1996). The correctly simulated strength of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, which governs the phase speed of oceanic anomalies, in our high-resolution model is essential for obtaining the observed wavenumber-2 ACW mode in the ocean. The ACW signature is also present in ocean temperature and salinity anomalies down to about 1000 m depth with similar eastward-propagating speed. The anomalies in the interior ocean are more coherent and intense over the Pacific and Atlantic sectors than over the Indian sector. Northward (southward) MWS anomalies, northward (southward) SIE anomalies, cold (warm) SST anomalies and saltier (fresher) than normal salinity anomalies are in phase, while less (more) than normal NHF is 90° out of phase with them, indicating the ACW in sea ice and ocean is a response to that in the atmosphere.

A two-year study was conducted on the growth processes of sea ice in Ongul Strait, Antarctica. Routine measurements of snow depth and ice thickness were made and sea-ice cores were collected to assess their structure, temperature and salinity. The snow depth varied from 0 to about 1 m. In the winter months, the growth rate is higher in bare-ice regions than in snow-covered regions. However, over the year, the ice thickness itself is lower in the bare-ice regions than in the snow-covered regions. Sea ice in the snow-covered regions increased in thickness in spring rather than in winter, due to the formation of snow-ice and by ice formation related to the melting of snow cover.

Some results from a dynamic-thermodynamic simulation of the seasonal cycle of the Weddell Sea pack ice are described. The model used for the study is similar to that developed by Hibler (1979) for a numerical investigation of the Arctic ice cover. It employs a plastic ice rheology coupled to a two-level ice-thickness distribution. The thickness characteristics evolve in response to ice dynamics, and to ice growth and decay rates dictated by surface heat-budget calculations and by heat storage in a fixed depth oceanic boundary layer. Observed time-varying wind, temperature, and humidity fields based on the 1979 Australian analysis are used together with empirical radiation fields and fixed ocean currents to drive the model. Employing these fields, the model is integrated over two seasonal cycles. The second-year results are compared to observed ice-drift data obtained by Ackley (1981[b]) and to ice-edge characteristics determined from satellite imagery. In analyzing the results, particular attention is paid to ascertaining the relative roles of ice dynamics and thermodynamics in determining the ice-edge characteristics. A sensitivity analysis of the effect of a different parameterization of the atmospheric temperature and humidity fields is also carried out.

Overall, the results suggest that (1) ice dynamics are essential in describing the seasonal cycle, and (2) a feedback between the atmospheric temperature and the presence of ice may be a major cause of the rapid decay of the Antarctic ice cover during the spring-summer period.

Measurements of basal ice deformation at the margin of Russell Glacier, West Greenland, have provided an opportunity to gain more insight into basal processes occurring near the margin. The basal ice layer comprises a debris-rich, heterogeneous stratified facies, overlain by a comparatively debris-poor dispersed facies. Ice velocities were obtained from anchors placed in both ice facies, at three sites under 5–15 m ice depth. Mean velocities ranged from 20 to 43 m a–1, and velocity gradients indicate high shear strain rates within the basal ice. Stick–slip motion and diurnal variations were observed during measurements at short (1–5 min) time intervals. Vertical gradients in horizontal ice velocity indicate two modes of deformation: (1) viscous deformation within the stratified ice facies, and (2) shear at the interface between the two basal ice facies. Deformation mode 1 may contribute to the folding and shear structures observed in the stratified facies. Deformation mode 2 may generate the stick–slip motion and be associated with the formation of debris bands. Active deformation close to the margin suggests that structures observed within the basal ice are only partially representative of processes occurring near the bed in areas away from the glacier margin.

This paper considers the possible commercial viability of applying the moving particle semi-implicit (MPS) method to avalanches. The MPS method is a powerful tool for reproducing the flow phenomenon with large-scale surface deformation. In order to apply this method to snow avalanches, we modified the original model to introduce constitutive equations of Bingham fluid, dilatant fluid and the erosion–deposition process. The modified model was applied to some cases and evaluated through comparison with experimental results and observed data.

Snow-courses data have been collected in order to investigate the temporal variability of snow distribution in two catchments in southern Norway during the 2002 melt season. The profiles represent different elevations, aspects and terrain types. At snow maximum the spatial distribution of snow above the tree line was positively skewed (long tail in the positive direction), whereas the spatial distribution below the tree line followed a more normal distribution. During the snowmelt season the spatial distribution of snow became increasingly skewed. By separating the datasets into two terrain classes, alpine and forest, the snow distribution could be described by a time-variant gamma distribution function, one for each terrain class. The results of the study will be used to formulate a new snow routine in the Swedish rainfall–runoff model HBV, which is used for flood forecasting in Norway.

The energy-balance approach was used to calculate snowmelt at a site in the mid-mountain zone of the western Tien Shan mountains. During a 19-day snowmelt period, the results showed that net radiation and sensible heat fluxes accounted for 76.9 and 23.1% of the incoming energy, while snowmelt and evaporation consumed 97.1 and 2.9% of the energy, respectively. Snowmelt calculated from the energy balance compares favourably with measured values, indicating the suitability of the energy-balance approach for estimating the rate of snowmelt in the mountain environment of the western Tien Shan.

The River Londalselva drains a part of the Søndre Folgefonni ice cap. On maps showing the topography of the basin, two potentially glacier-dammed lakes can be identified, the lakes of Blomsterskardvatn and Sauavatn. Four large floods occurred in the late summer or early autumn periods of the years 1938, 1944, 1948, and 1962, resulting in great damage to the farms in the settlement of Mosnes. After each of the earlier floods, river-protection work was carried out, but after the 1962 flood further protection efforts were considered too expensive and so the settlement was abandoned by its farmers in the mid-1960s. Originally, the floods were believed to result from the emptying of Blomsterskardvatn. However, field studies have revealed that in fact the floods actually orginated in Sauavatn. This paper suggests a possible flood-prevention measure, based on the construction of a 400 m long tunnel from Sauavatn, which would keep water levels low. The cost is estimated at approximately 5 million Norwegian kroner (NOK.) based on an exchange rate of 6.9 NOK = 1 $US in September 1988. The paper also stresses the importance of making proper hydrological investigations in other cases of flood.

Twin 5-month seasonal forecast experiments are performed to predict the September 2018 mean and minimum ice extent using the fully coupled Navy Earth System Prediction Capability (ESPC). In the control run, ensemble forecasts are initialized from the operational US Navy Global Ocean Forecasting System (GOFS) 3.1 but do not assimilate ice thickness data. Another set of forecasts are initialized from the same GOFS 3.1 fields but with sea ice thickness derived from CryoSat-2 (CS2). The Navy ESPC ensemble mean September 2018 minimum sea ice extent initialized with GOFS 3.1 ice thickness was over-predicted by 0.68 M km2 (5.27 M km2) vs the ensemble forecasts initialized with CS2 ice thickness that had an error of 0.40 M km2 (4.99 M km2), a 43% reduction in error. The September mean integrated ice edge error shows a 18% improvement for the Pan-Arctic with the CS2 data vs the control forecasts. Comparison against upward looking sonar ice thickness in the Beaufort Sea reveals a lower bias and RMSE with the CS2 forecasts at all three moorings. Ice concentration at these locations is also improved, but neither set of forecasts show ice free conditions as observed at moorings A and D.

Glaciers retreating in response to climate warming are progressively exposing primary mineral substrates to surface conditions. As primary production is constrained by nitrogen (N) availability in these emerging ecosystems, improving our understanding of how N accumulates with soil formation is of critical concern. In this study, we quantified how the distribution and speciation of N, as well as rates of free-living biological N fixation (BNF), change along a 2000-year chronosequence of soil development in a High Arctic glacier forefield. Our results show the soil N pool increases with time since exposure and that the rate at which it accumulates is influenced by soil texture. Further, all N increases were organically bound in soils which had been ice-free for 0–50 years. This is indicative of N limitation and should promote BNF. Using the acetylene reduction assay technique, we demonstrated that microbially mediated inputs of N only occurred in soils which had been ice-free for 0 and 3 years, and that potential rates of BNF declined with increased N availability. Thus, BNF only supports N accumulation in young soils. When considering that glacier forefields are projected to become more expansive, this study has implications for understanding how ice-free ecosystems will become productive over time.

The grounding-line region of Rutford Ice Stream was surveyed from the ground during 1978–79 and 1979–80, and from the air in 1980–81. Maps of surface elevation and ice thickness of an area of 1 000 km2 allow the grounding line to be delineated and show that the ice stream consists of several distinct fingers of thick ice trending parallel to the flow. In one area, the floating ice is more than 2 000 m thick. Hydrostatic tiltmeters were used to pinpoint the grounding line. Repeated survey of a network of stakes gave velocity and strain-rates for both longitudinal and transverse profiles. Radio echo-fading pattern studies showed the ice to be completely sliding near the grounding line. Modelling of the ice stream, using steady-state theory, shows that the bottom melting rate is around 1.8 m a−1. The small surface and bottom gradients imply that the position of the grounding line may be sensitive to small changes in ice thickness.