The heat and ice balances of a temperate sub-Antarctic cirque glacier were measured through the 1973–74 melt season at an altitude midway between the climatic firn limit and the snout. The melt calculated from mean daily measurements at a single level of net radiation, wind-speed, temperature, and humidity agreed with that observed at nearby budget stakes. In the central ablation zone, radiation provided (54 ± 6)% and sensible fluxes (46 ± 6)% of the heat income through the summer, which was exceptionally warm and sunny. Latent-heat fluxes made no significant contribution to the heat balance. The calculation by Smith (1960) that the radiative, sensible, and latent heat fluxes contribute about equally to ablation in this zone has not been substantiated by measurement. The measured partition of the glacier’s heat balance suggested that maritime influences on its regime are mitigated by its position in the lee of a major mountain range.

A time-dependent numerical model of temperate glacier flow without sliding is developed and applied to the quiescent phase of surge-type Variegated Glacier, Alaska. The model is based on a one-dimensional continuity equation but the transverse channel shape is explicitly included allowing the complex geometries of real glaciers to be modelled. Velocities and volume fluxes are calculated from the glacier geometry. Transverse stress is taken into account by shape factors which are fitted to measurements of geometry and velocity and are chosen to be insensitive to changes in geometry. Longitudinal stress gradients are taken into account by use of a large-scale surface slope. A Crank-Nicholson finite-difference approximation is used and it is unconditionally stable when a small contribution from the local slope is added to the average slope.

Model parameters are fitted to extensive data collected on Variegated Glacier in 1973 and 1974. Predictions of the model over a four year interval agree well with field measurements. Predictions of the current quiescent phase (1965–84) indicate depth increases in the upper glacier of more than 75 m with a twenty-fold increase in the volume flux. During this interval the base shear stress increases 40% in the upper glacier and decreases 20% in the lower glacier. During the mid to late quiescent phase, ice motion becomes more important than mass balance in the redistribution of mass over the central region of the glacier. If normal flow were to persist, the predicted steady-state profile would be an average of 100 m deeper and 41% more voluminous than in 1973.

The predicted base shear-stress gradient is never negative enough to satisfy Robin and Weertman’s (1973) condition for blockage of subglacial water flow. The annual rate of water production by dissipation of mechanical straining at the bed remains two orders of magnitude below that produced by summer surface melt. The predicted fractional increase in base stress during the quiescent phase is a maximum in the region believed to be the trigger zone of the surges.

A non-linear parabolic equation describing the evolution of an isothermal linearly viscous ice sheet is numerically solved in non-dimensional coordinates obtained by normalization over the horizontal size of a glacier. The horizontal size of the ice sheet is defined from the solution of an ordinary differential equation, the integral mass balance. For simple climate models, approximate relations describing the evolution of glaciers are proposed. These relations and palaeogeographical data are used to estimate changes in the mass balance on the surface of the Scandinavian and Laurentide ice sheets during retreat of the last glaciation.

A mathematical model is presented for the stability of sheet flow of water beneath a temperate glacier. Enhanced viscous heat dissipation in thick parts of the sheet tends to make sheet flow unstable, the instability increasing as sheet thickness and pressure gradient increase. However, incipient channels may be destroyed as the glacier slides over protuberances on its bed. Quasi-stable sheet flow may be possible for sheets up to several millimeters in thickness, especially beneath glaciers that have relatively gentle surface slopes and slide at moderate to high speeds. Such water sheets may somewhat reduce the effective roughness of glacier beds, but probably not enough to allow surge initiation. Furthermore, the presence of numerous water-filled cavities at the glacier bed will tend to reduce the sheet thickness and lessen the degree of “lubrication” of the glacier bed by the water sheet.

Peculiarities of radio echo-sounding of mountain glaciers and ice fields between nunataks from terrestrial vehicles and from helicopters are considered in this paper. The possibility of using comparatively high frequencies (of up to 865 MHz) for sounding such glaciers is demonstrated on the basis of experimental data. Results of airborne radio echo-sounding of Svalbard glaciers of various types, dimensions, and regime obtained with the help of the 620 MHz airborne equipment of high resolution are shown. Returns from the glacier bed have been obtained on the majority of glaciers under investigation. The firn regions of ice fields with temperate regimes flowing between nunataks are, mostly, an exception. Depression in the glacier bed with the ice thickness up to 540 m, as well as internal reflecting boundaries have been detected in some glaciers. Ice volumes of glaciers have been determined from the airborne radio echo-sounding data with the use of a parabolic approximation to the cross-section glacier profiles. Good correlational dependence between ice volume and surface area of glaciers has been established and is used to estimate the ice and water resources in Svalbard glaciers.

Collected data on the mean annual surface values for δ18O over Antarctica have been tabulated and also presented in map form. An additional map shows contours of constant δ18O values.

Displacement of an array of eight stakes was measured at approximately 12 h intervals on South Cascade Glacier, Washington, for a period of 638 h during July and August 1979. The array was located on the glacier center-line and had overall dimensions comparable to the 200 m ice thickness in this part of the glacier. Variations in velocity for individual stakes was typically 100% for periods of 12 h but decreased for longer time intervals in accordance with reports in the literature. The constraint of requiring compatible motion for the entire array reduces the averaged short-term fluctuations to the same order as the variations between stakes for a given 12 h period. This implies that non-uniformity in individual stake motion does not represent true velocity variation of the studied portion of the glacier.

Measurements at various epochs in the course of the twentieth century indicate a slowing down of surface ice flow velocity. This is consistent with the numerical modeling of the secular glacier recession, which furthermore shows a gradual upward shift of the regions of highest velocity and mass flux. Crevasse orientation is transverse above, and longitudinal below, the velocity maximum. The secular change in the longitudinal velocity profile seems to affect the crevasse pattern. Net balance in the next five years is a major factor in future changes of the glacier. With this reservation, model calculations for a possible extreme scenario indicate a drastic overall velocity decrease, and a moderate further displacement of the velocity and mass-flux maxima up-glacier, by the mid 1980’s.

A four stream discrete-ordinates photometric model including both anisotropic scattering and refraction at the boundaries is presented which treats the case of a floating ice slab. The effects of refraction and reflection on the redistribution of the incident radiation field as it enters the ice are examined in detail. Using one- and two-layer models, theoretical albedos and transmittances are compared to values measured in the laboratory for thin salt ice. With an experimentally determined three-parameter Henyey–Greenstein phase function, comparisons at 650 nm yield single-scattering albedos ranging from 0.95 to 0.9997. The models are then used to compare the effects of diffuse and direct-beam incident radiation, to investigate the dependence of spectral albedo and transmittance on ice thickness, and to determine the influence of very cold and melted surface layers.

The influence of snow structure on the liquid water distribution is recorded by measuring the high-frequency relative permittivity. The structure is characterized by the size and the shape of the ice grains, which are derived by analyzing the static dielectric constant and by analyzing photographs of the surface of the snow samples. The liquid distribution is very sensitive to the liquid saturation and to the shape of the ice grains; it is unaffectcd by the grain size. A transition from the pendular into the funicular mode of liquid distribution occurs in the range of 7 to 18% saturation. This transitional zone is very sensitive to the structure of snow; it decreases from approximately 13 to 18% liquid saturation for new snow to 7 to 12% saturation for old, coarse-grained snow.

Sediment deposition on to snow overlying glacier ice occurs in a marginal zone extending 200–300 m up-glacier from the terminus of Sylgjujökull. Debris on ice above the marginal snow zone comes from debris-rich layers, and 85% of this debris falls between 1 and 4ϕ, the characteristic grain-size of volcanic ash within Icelandic glaciers. The ash is transported down-glacier as suspended load in melt-water streams at concentrations between 61 and 430 mg l−1, and loads from 0.2 to 32.7 g s−1. A diurnal hysteretic loop is present in the relationship between suspended sediment and discharge for one stream.

Supraglacial streams flow from relatively impermeable ice on to more permeable snow near the glacier terminus. As they move across the snow, stream discharge (up to 0.1 m3 s−1 on ice) is reduced and debris is re-sedimented as linear debris trains 1–3 cm thick and orientated orthogonal to the glacier margin. Since sediment deposition reduces the permeability of the snow substrate, the debris trains are successively extended across the snow cover at rates of up to 36.5 m d−1. If the debris is then let down on to glacier ice, linear dirt-cone assemblages may be produced. Re-sedimented debris trains are of little stratigraphic significance if deposited pro-glacially.

Two rock glaciers are described from the maritime sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia. The Cooper Sound rock glacier is a spatulate feature, probably ice-cored, 1.5 km long, and developed below a dissected cirque headwall. The Binary Peaks rock glacier is a lobate feature, possibly ice-cemented, only 175 m long, and contiguous with the talus behind it. Evidence for an ice-cored rock glacier in this maritime environment indicates that the debris supply and receiving glacier areas may be more important factors in determining rock-glacier development than zonal climate.

A new method has been developed for the observation of crystal axes orientation in fine-grained polycrystalline ice (grain-size approximately one millimetre). A two per cent ethylene dichloride solution of polyvinyl formal (Formvar) is applied to the surface of a sample. This solution produces adequate density of small holes in the Formvar coating and subsequently the nucleation sites for hoar crystal growth. The geometrical shape of each hoar crystal reveals both the c-axis and a-axes orientations using an optical microscope.