Ice-stream tributaries connect the relatively slow-moving interior of the West Antarctic ice sheet (WAIS) with the fast-flowing Siple Coast ice streams. Basal water underneath these ice streams reduces basal resistance and enables the fast motion of the ice. Basal melting being the only source for this water, it is important to include the distribution of basal melting and freezing into numerical models assessing the stability of the WAIS. However, it is very difficult to constrain its distribution from existing field observations. Past borehole observations confirmed the presence of a wet bed at Byrd Station in the WAIS interior and at different locations within Siple Coast ice streams. However, the recent discovery of a 12–25m thick sediment-laden bubble-free basal ice layer at the UpC boreholes indicates that basal freezing is either currently occurring or had occurred upstream during the last glacial–interglacialcycle.We use a flowline model of ice thermodynamics to assess and quantify the spatial and temporal distribution of basal melting and freezing beneath Ice Stream C tributaries, taking into account the geothermal flux, shear heating and heat conduction away from the bed. Under the assumption that the ice was moving over a weak bed (τb =1–10 kPa) our model is able to reproduce a layer of frozen-on ice similar in thickness to the UpC “sticky spot” basal ice layer. Increased basal melting in the early Holocene possibly could have initiated the Holocene decay of the WAIS, whereas increased freezing rates over the past few thousand years could have decreased the amount of basal water in the system, resulting in a strengthening of the bed. This is consistent with current force-budget calculations for ice-stream tributaries and with observed stoppages and slow-downs of ice streams.

A series of ice cores from sites with different snow-accumulation rates across Law Dome, East Antarctica, was investigated for methanesulphonic acid (MSA) movement. the precipitation at these sites (up to 35 km apart) is influenced by the same air masses, the principal difference being the accumulation rate. At the low-accumulation-rate W20k site (0.17m ice equivalent), MSAwas completely relocated from the summer to winter layer. Moderate movement was observed at the intermediate-accumulation-rate site (0.7m ice equivalent), Dome Summit South (DSS), while there was no evidence of movement at the high-accumulation-rate DE08 site (1.4m ice equivalent). the main DSS record of MSA covered the epoch AD 1727–2000 and was used to investigate temporal post-depositional changes. Co-deposition of MSA and sea-salt ions was observed in the surface layers, outside of the main summer MSA peak,which complicates interpretation of these peaks as evidence of movement in deeper layers. A seasonal study of the 273 year DSS record revealed MSA migration predominantly from summer into autumn (in the up-core direction), but this migration was suppressed during the Tambora (1815) and unknown (1809) volcanic eruption period, and enhanced during an epoch (1770–1800) with high summer nitrate levels. A complex interaction between the gradients in nss-sulphate, nitrate and sea salts (which are influenced by accumulation rate) is believed to control the rate and extent of movement of MSA.

Detailed chemical analysis of the 122 m, relatively high-altitude and low-melt Lomonosovfonna ice core provides the best-dated record of nitrate from Svalbard. A very significant non-linear trend present in the record shows: (a) a rise in concentrations from the 12th to the mid-16th century, (b) reasonably stable concentrations until the mid-19th century, (c) a rise in concentrations into the 20th century, with (d) a rapid rise in the 1950s and (e) a decrease after the mid-1980s. Nitrate is well correlated with ammonium before 1920 and after 1960 but not in the intervening period. the correlation between ammonium and nitrate concentrations indicates that ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) has been common at Lomonosovfonna. There are also places in the core where nitrate is very closely associated with calcium.

The formation of ice-cored moraines and push moraines is discussed in the light of glacier thermal regime and glacier dynamics. Data from two Svalbard valley glaciers, Erikbreen and Usherbreen are presented. On Erikbreen, fossil forms were investigated, while on Usherbreen a surge ending in 1985 caused the formation of new push-moraine ridges. The push moraines are considered as a soil-mechanical problem. In a theoretical discussion the stress transmitted by the glaciers to the proglacial sediments is estimated. On Usherbreen, the compressive flow results in deformation both in old front ridges and in undisturbed frozen sediment layers in the front sandur. Thus, folding, thrust faulting and overriding all occur. Deformation of proglacial sediments seems to be highly dependent on the mechanical properties of the sediments. The sediments are strongly influenced by permafrost conditions. The unfrozen water content in the sediments governs the deformability, which in turn is partly determined by pore-water salinity. The distribution of push moraines in Svalbard is therefore restricted to areas below the Holocene marine limit, and they occur most frequently in areas of sedimentary bedrock. This study concludes that push moraines and ice-cored moraines require permafrost conditions. Push-moraine ridges are not formed in direct contact with the glacier, so they are geomorphologically not moraines, but deformed permafrost sediments. A model for glacier debris sedimentation and deformation is outlined for Svalbard glaciers ending on land.

The meltwaters draining from two glaciers in the Italian Alps contain metabolically active yeasts isolable by culture-based laboratory procedures. The average number of culturable yeast cells in the meltwaters was 10–20 colony-forming units (CFU) L–1, whereas supraglacial stream waters originating from overlying glacier ice contained <1 CFUL–1. Yeast cell number increased as the suspended-sediment content of the water samples increased. Basidiomycetous yeasts represent >80% of isolated strains (Cryptococcus spp. and Rhodotorula spp. were 33.3% and 17.8% of total strains, respectively). Culturable yeasts were psychrotolerant, predominantly obligate aerobes and able to degrade organic macromolecules (e.g. starch, esters, lipids, proteins). To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to report the presence of culturable yeasts in meltwaters originating from glaciers. On the basis of these results, it is reasonable to suppose that the viable yeasts observed in meltwaters derived predominantly from the subglacial zone and that they originated from the subglacial microbial community. Their metabolic abilities could contribute to the microbial activity occurring in subglacial environments.

The drift of eight tabular icebergs is discussed. In spite of large differences in the vertical dimension, the various icebergs seem to react in a similar manner to wind effects in areas covered with sea ice. Measurements indicate that it takes between one and five years for an iceberg to move into the westerlies from the coastal areas between about 50°E. and the Antarctic Peninsula. The drift of the icebergs reflects the integrated current effects in the upper 200-300 m, and may thus also give information about the transport of water masses.

It is well known that an incoming ocean swell produces a strain field in a land-fast ice sheet. The attenuation and spectral content of this strain field can be calculated and has been measured. The response of the sea ice to this type of cyclic forcing has also been measured, and in particular we are able to estimate the number of cycles to failure for sea ice loaded at constant amplitude. In this paper we consider the response of the land-fast ice sheet or vast floe to a measured ice-coupled wave field of variable amplitude. We use the Palmgren-Miner cumulative damage law and stress-lifetime curves taken from field experiments to predict the lifetime of the sea-ice sheet as a function of significant wave height and sea-ice brine fraction. Calculations are performed to account for the swell entering a land-fast sea-ice sheet at arbitrary angle, and the influence of c-axis alignment and the presence of pre-existing cracks are discussed.

In the course of a tremendous outburst flood (jökulhlaup) following the subglacial eruption in Vatnajökull, Iceland, in October 1996, a depression in the surface of the ice cap was created as a result of ice melting from the walls of a subglacial tunnel. The surface depression was initially approximately 6 km long, 800 m wide and 100 m deep. This ˚canyon" represents a significant perturbation in the geometry of the ice cap in this area where the total ice thickness is about 200–400 m. We present results of repeated measurements of flow velocities and elevation changes in the vicinity of the canyon made over a period of about 2 years. The measurements show a reduction in the depth of the canyon and a concomitant decrease in surface flow towards it over time. By calculating the transient evolution of idealized surface depressions using both analytical zeroth- and first-order theories, as well as the shallow-ice approximation (SIA) and a finite-element model incorporating all the terms of the momentum equations we demonstrate the importance of horizontal stress gradients at the spatial scale of this canyon. The transient evolution of the canyon is calculated with a two-dimensional time-dependent finite-element model with flow parameters (the parameters A and n of Glen’s flow law) that are tuned towards an optimal agreement with measured flow velocities. Although differences between measured and calculated velocities are comparable to measurement errors, the differences are not randomly distributed. The model is therefore not verified in detail. Nevertheless the model reproduces observed changes in the geometry over a 15 month time period reasonably well The model also reproduces changes in both velocities and geometry considerably better than an alternative model based on the SIA.

In most glaciological and hydrological models, surface roughness of snow and ice is an important parameter. However, roughness is generally used only as an estimated parameter for lack of available observations. In this paper, we present a method to collect and analyze ice-surface-roughness data using a specially designed instrument for survey and geostatistical methods for analysis. The glacier-roughness sensor (GRS), built at the University of Trier, records variations in microtopography at 0.2 m × 0.1 m resolution when pulled across an ice surface. Global positioning system data are used for location. After several processing steps, the data are analyzed using geostatistical methods. The mathematical tool used to achieve a morphological characterization of ice-surface types is the variogram. GRS data, variograms and surface roughness analysis are ideal matches for morphological characterization, because none of them requires or provides absolute elevation values. Morphology is described not by absolute elevation values, but by the change of elevation in space which is the derivative of elevation (surface-roughness values). The variogram is calculated from incremental values. Parameters extracted from variograms of GRS data serve to distinguish lake surfaces, wind structures, ridge-and- vaUey systems, melting structures and blue-ice areas. Examples are from Jakobshavn Isbræ drainage basin, West Greenland.

A basal zone, tens of meters thick, of debris-laden ice was observed in Kamb Ice Stream, West Antarctica, using a video camera lowered into boreholes made by hot-water drilling. The debris content varies, sometimes abruptly, forming a sequence of layers that reflect the complex history of fast ice flow and bed interaction. In most parts, the concentration of debris is low, a few percent by weight, with particles, often mud clots, dispersed in a matrix of clear ice. The nature of the debris distribution can be interpreted in terms of specific time intervals in the history of fast motion of Kamb Ice Stream including processes leading up to the termination of its streaming behavior and possible reactivation.

Central Asian glaciers, compared to other glaciers in the world, should exhibit a different response to changing climate owing to (i) the extreme continentality that gives rise to aridity and large seasonal temperature variations, and (ii) the coincidence of accumulation and ablation seasons in summer. A detailed 4year field survey has been carried out on Sofiyskiy glacier in the south Chuya range(Altai mountains), Russia. Field observations reveal that this glacier retreated steadily during the 20th century at a rate of 18.3 m a–1, considerably faster than Maliy Aktru glacier, 30km to the north. Based on radio-echo sounding (RES), the subglacial topography of Sofiyskiy glacier has been reconstructed, and stake and snow-pit measurements enable the determination of surface velocity and mass balance. Basal sliding plays an important role in Sofiyskiyglacier’s behaviour, as is shown by a force-balance analysis. An analysis of RES measurements yields the bed reflection power (BRP). Using the three-layer reflectivity model of Born and Wolf (1986), the BRP is compared with the theoretical bed reflectivity for two contrasting layers of varying porosity and thickness. Results indicate that Sofiyskiy glacier possibly exhibits a polythermal regime.

Water piracy by Ice Stream B, West Antarctica, may have caused neighboring Ice Stream C to stop. The modern hydrologic potentials near the upstream end of the main trunk of Ice Stream C are directing water from the C catchment into Ice Stream B. Interruption of water supply from the catchment would have reduced water lubrication on bedrock regions projecting through lubricating basal till and stopped the ice stream in a few years or decades, short enough to appear almost instantaneous. This hypothesis explains several new data sets from Ice Stream C and makes predictions that might be testable.

It is well known that waves jostle frazil-ice crystals together, providing opportunities for them to compact into floes. The shape of these consolidated floes is nearly circular, hence the name: pancakes. From field and laboratory observations, the size of these pancakes seems to depend on the wavelength. Further aggregation of these individual pancakes produces the seasonal ice cover. Pancake-ice covers prevail in the marginal ice zone of the Southern Ocean and along the edges of many polar and subpolar seas. This theoretical paper describes conceptually the formation process of a pancake-ice cover in a wave field. The mechanisms that affect the evolution of the entire ice cover are discussed. Governing equations for the time-rate change of the floe diameter, its thickness and the thickness of the ice-cover are derived based on these mechanisms. Two criteria are proposed to determine the maximum floe size under a given wave condition, one based on bending and the other on stretching. Field and laboratory observations to date are discussed in view of this theory.

An assessment of the glaciological and meteorological characteristics of Dome A, the summit of the East Antarctic ice sheet, is made based on field investigations during the austral summer of 2004/05. Knowledge of these characteristics is critical for future international studies such as deep ice-core drilling. The assessment shows that: (1) Dome A is characterized by a very low 10m depth firn temperature, –58.3˚C (nearly 3˚C lower than at EPICA Dome C and 1˚C lower than at Vostok). (2) Automatic weather station (AWS) measurements of snow surface height and reference layers in a snow pit indicate the present-day snow accumulation rate at Dome A is within the range 1–3cmw.e. a–1. Densification models suggest a range of 1–2cmw.e. a–1. This is lower than at other sites along the ice divide of East Antarctica (IDEA). Annual layers at Dome A are thus potentially thinner than at other sites, so that a longer record is preserved in a given ice thickness. (3) The average wind speed observed at Dome A (<4ms–1) is lower than at other sites along IDEA. Together, these parameters, combined with radio-echo sounding data and information on the subglacial drainage distribution beneath Dome A, suggest Dome A as a candidate site for obtaining the oldest ice core.

In the framework of the European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA) a glacio-chemical pre-site survey was carried out in Dronning Maud Land (DML), Antarctica, to investigate seasonal and spatial variations. All ion species show pronounced seasonal cycles with the exception of nitrate, which is subject to post-depositional alterations. Sea salt reaches maximum concentrations in late winter/spring, while sulphate, being mainly of marine biogenic origin, shows a double peak with high concentrations both in autumn and in late spring/summer. Methanesulphonate (MSA) also shows a strong autumn peak but only slight indications of a second peak in late spring/summer, as seen for sulphate. Due to post-depositional changes, the seasonal cycle of MSA vanishes further down in the firn. These changes are also reflected in the spatial distribution of MSA. While surface MSA concentrations decline with altitude and higher accumulation rates, concentrations of aged snow show a strong increase with higher accumulation rates in our ice cores. Non-sea-salt sulphate shows a 40% decrease with an increase in snow accumulation of about 80% in recent and aged snow. While the geographical variation is negligible for average nitrate concentrations, sea salt shows an exponential decline with altitude. the outcome of this study confirms that the data of the new EPICA deep drilling site in DML (75˚00.10’ S, 0˚04.07’ E) will be representative for this region, and high-resolution analytical methods will allow accurate stratigraphic dating of a deep ice core.

The European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA) Dome C 2 (EDC2) drilling was concluded on 21 December 2005, a few metres above bedrock. The drilling was stopped both for environmental reasons and because of the drilling difficulties encountered in ‘warm ice’. This paper describes in detail the progress and the performance of the EPICA drill, including the procedures needed to penetrate into ‘warm ice’ and their effects on core quality. Some drill technical data are also presented.

Most of the glaciers in southern Chile have been retreating and shrinking during recent decades in response to atmospheric warming and decrease in precipitation. However, some glacier fluctuations are directly associated with the effusive and geothermal activity of ice-covered active volcanoes widely distributed in the region. The aim of this paper is to study the ice volumetric changes by comparing several topographic datasets. A maximum mean ice thinning rate of 0.81 ± 0.45 m a−1 was observed on the ash/debris-covered ablation area of Volcan Villarrica between 1961 and 2004, whilst on Volcan Mocho the signal-to-noise ratio was too small to yield any conclusion. An area reduction of 0.036 ±0.019 km2 a−1 since 1976 was obtained on Glaciar Mocho, while on Volcan Villarrica the area change was −0.090 ± 0.034 km2 a−1 between 1976 and 2005. Glaciers on active volcanoes are therefore shrinking, mainly in response to climatic driving factors. However, volcanic activity is affecting glaciers in two opposite ways: ash/debris advection is helping to reduce surface ablation at lower reaches by insulating the ice from solar radiation, while geothermal activity is probably enhancing melting and water production at the bedrock, resulting in negative ice-elevation changes.

Within the percolation and soaked facies of the Greenland ice sheet, the relationship between radar-derived internal reflection horizons and the layered structure of the firn column is unclear. We conducted two small-scale ground-penetrating radar (GPR) surveys in conjunction with 10 m firn cores that we collected within the percolation and soaked facies of the Greenland ice sheet. The two surveys were separated by a distance of ~50 km and ~340m of elevation leading to ~40 days of difference in the duration of average annual melt. At the higher site (~1997ma.s.l.), which receives less melt, we found that internal reflection horizons identified in GPR data were largely laterally continuous over the grid; however, stratigraphic layers identified in cores could not be traced between cores over any distance from 1.5 to 14.0 m. Thus, we found no correlation between firn core stratigraphy observed directly and radar-derived internal reflection horizons. At the lower site (~1660ma.s.l.), which receives more melt, we found massive ice layers >0.5m thick and stratigraphic boundaries that span >15m horizontally. Some ice layers and stratigraphic boundaries correlate well with internal reflection horizons that are laterally continuous over the area of the radar grid. Internal reflection horizons identified at ~1997ma.s.l. are likely annual isochrones, but the reflection horizons identified at ~1660ma.s.l. are likely multi-annual features. We find that mapping accumulation rates over long distances by tying core stratigraphy to radar horizons may lead to ambiguous results because: (1) there is no stratigraphic correlation between firn cores at the 1997 m location; and (2) the reflection horizons at the 1660m location are multi-annual features.

Assuming that the permanent north polar cap of Mars consists of flowing water ice, the relationship between topography and flow is examined along a profile extending from the pole in the 160° E direction This profile is intersected by scarps and troughs that are characteristic of the north polar cap The flow is calculated by a finite-element ice-flow model which includes divergence of the flow, longitudinal stresses and temperature effects. Ice-flow velocities are generally on the order of 0.1–1 mm a–1 but are enhanced at scarps and troughs to cm a–1. Ice flow smooths out the troughs. Troughs affect the flow to the bottom of the cap. Beneath a trough, ice is dragged upward. Longitudinal stresses are able to drag the lowest part of the ice past smaller troughs. At the pole-facing side of major troughs, ice is stagnant or flows slowly poleward. Implications for formation mechanisms of scarps and troughs are discussed.

Key issues of glacier monitoring are changes in glacier geometry and glacier mass. As accurate direct measurements are costly and time-consuming, the use of various remote-sensing data for glacier monitoring is explored. One technology used and described here is airborne laser scanning. The method enables the derivation of high-quality digital elevation models (DEMs) with a vertical and horizontal accuracy in the sub-metre range. Between September 2001 and August 2002, three laser scanner data acquisition flights were carried out, covering the whole area of Engabreen, Norway, and corresponding well to the measurement dates for the mass-balance year 2001/02. The data quality of the DEMs is assessed (e.g. by comparing the values with a control area which has been surveyed independently or GPS ground profiles measured during the flights). For the whole glacier, surface elevation change and consequently volume change is calculated, quantified and compared with traditional mass-balance data for the same time interval. For the winter term, emergence/submergence velocity is determined from laser scanner data and snow-depth data and is compared with velocity measurements at stakes. The investigations reveal the high potential of airborne laser scanning for measuring the extent and the topography of glaciers as well as changes in geometry (Δarea, Δvolume).